Through the Spy Glass
by Katsura369
Summary: Sakura's back in her world, however she hasn't forgotten the people she met in the other. Especially given what she unexpectedly received as constant reminder(s) of a certain ambitious dungeon capturer she fell in love with. They say that secrets always find a way of coming out-no matter where they are hidden. Does that include in another world? An unraveling like no other.
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

**HELLO EVERYONE**

 **I am back with the sequel to Through the Looking Glass! This story has been sitting on my mind for a while now but I decided to post the first part on the 28 March (Know why?). Anyway, I don't really have anything else to say except READ AND ENJOY-**

 **ALSO I DO NOT OWN MAGI OR NARUTO.**

Summary

Sakura's returned to her world, however she hasn't been able to forget about her experience, nor the people she met in the other world. Especially given what she unexpectedly received as constant reminder(s) of a certain ambitious dungeon capturer that she fell in love with. They say that secrets always find a way of coming out-no matter where they are hidden. Does that include another world? When two separate paths, never meant to be crossroads become intertwined; there will be clashes and unravelling like nothing seen before by either world.

If a miracle only happens once, what do you call it a second time?

* * *

 _PROLOGUE_

The world is cruel.

Doubtfully, there has ever been a single person who has experienced life long enough and not thought, spoke or insinuated that phrase. It could've been reciprocated through almost any means, from an embarrassing fall in public or getting caught in the rain without an umbrella to losing a friend, experiencing your first heartbreak or going to war. There are many times a person will repeat this phrase in experiencing life and Sakura Haruno was no different than everyone else on this matter. Except, she had truly believed this phrase and had taken it to heart. It was not during her childhood when she was teased for her big forehead and it wasn't when her teammate and first love Sasuke left the village.

It was when she made a decision that took her completely off the path she had been walking in life, a comfortable path, close to her friends and family and leading her towards bringing back the boy she loved. That changing decision was when she found a mirror hidden in a cave; which took her off her path in her world and threw her out into another world. A world filled with difficulties, where people were treated as commodities, chained and sold like livestock, a world where war raged and here was a constant struggle for power but it was also a world of magic. Tower's with treasures and metal vessels that grant ordinary people power; the power of a king.

A power she had obtained.

Sakura's reason to think of this world as cruel was well justified, but more than cruel, she also thought it was wonderful. A wonderful, cruel world. Where she was able to obtain, what she had not in her own world. Power and wisdom, she had earned by conquering multiple dungeons, while on her mission to return to her world.

And love.

Love for a special boy who wanted to change his world and make it a better place; striving for a goal that sounded nearly impossible, and yet became achievable simply because it was he who wanted to achieve it. This boy's name was Sinbad.

He was a boy who saw further into the world than anyone else, he could ride the waves of destiny without drowning, and Sakura-she was an interloper, an abnormality to that world. Someone who was not meant to be there. Thus the two captured each other's interests and after what seemed like a lifetime ago they became partners, friends until finally; they captured each other's hearts.

However, their goals lead them on separate paths. Sinbad's pursuit to change the world by becoming a king and Sakura's search for the shards of the mirror that brought her to this world, in order to return to her own. Eventually, they had to say farewell; despite their personal feelings. Sinbad created his country and Sakura returned to her world without ever looking back.

However, there was more factoring into this departure than either were aware of at the time on account of their own actions.

There was a magic within the Looking Glass that reversed the physical effects of Sakura's being while she had been absent from her world, returning her to the exact moment she had left it. However, she soon discovered that the effects of the magic, only proceeded so far. The Looking Glass, could not reverse life as far to an internal extent. Which was something Sakura had shockingly discovered a short while after her return to her world.

* * *

Soft, footsteps clicked along the large, empty hallway leading in a curved motion in accordance to its structure. In swift strides, continuing until reaching a door nearly right on top of the building that was currently occupied. Opening, into a large office, met with a large desk, stacked with papers, on top of it, beside and in front. Near the middle was an open laptop and sitting behind that desk, was a man, long spiky silver hair, wearing a mask that covered the lower half of his face while the village headband covered one of his eyes, the one exposed was onyx and facing back towards the person that had just stepped in.

"Hello Sakura."

There stood a young women, with short pink haired, styled in a bob, with sharp emerald green eyes, wearing red qipao dress reaching her thighs, with white trimmings and a white circular design on the back; it is tied with a black obi with black shorts, gloves and grey elbow/knee protectors. Her headband was tied on the top of her head, she had a golden arm bracelet, a dagger strapped to her waist, a hairpin pinned to the side of her obi. She also had a silver necklace with a ruby around her neck, and a separate chain with two rings hanging on it.

"I'm back Kakashi."

* * *

Konohagakure, the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

It was a village known by many, for many different reasons. It was the village the held a number of powerful ninja families. It was the first shinobi village founded during the warring periods. It was a village that had survived three Shinobi wars. And rebuilt during the fourth war, after being destroyed in a single sweep by the criminal organisation, the Akatsuki, or to be more specific their leader.

The Fourth Shinobi war had taken place shortly after Sakura's return to her world, almost two years after and it had been one she wouldn't soon forget, given the circumstances surrounding it.

After the war, leadership positions had changed in the village. Sakura's teacher and master, Tsunade had stepped down as Hokage and Sakura's former sensei and team leader, Kakashi Hatake, was appointed as the next Hokage. That wasn't all.

Sasuke Uchiha; Sakura's former teammate who had abandoned the village, returned after the war. Although this accomplishment wasn't without cost, Naruto and Sasuke had drawn into a fierce battle with new powers and abilities that lead them to almost ending each other's lives. Fortunately, the only permanent damage was the loss of one of their arms. All other injuries Sakura was able to remedy.

Sasuke did not remain in the village even though he had returned; he had gone on a journey of self-redemption, which had lasted a few years. It was possible to count on one hand how many times he had returned to the village since then.

"Back from your mission already," Kakashi noted, smiling through his mask. "I knew you could manage this on your own, I just didn't expect you to be this fast."

Sakura nodded, grinning widely. She had just recently been sent on an S-ranked solo mission. It was to capture a few high ranking criminal ninja who had escaped from a prison they were being held. Apparently, there was a large group who had been planning an escape for months. Sakura was the one sent to round them all up again, as she seemed more suited due to her versatile attributes. More specifically, her five metal vessels.

Surprise was the understatement in describing the reaction she had received when first revealing her new earned powers. Her metal vessels abilities were great in this world and had gotten her through many battles. One of her first in this world was against a member of the Akatsuki, Sasori; no one was there to witness the display other than Chiyo, an elder and former ninja from Suna. She had died during the mission that she, Sakura, Naruto and Kakashi were on.

Another time was when the village was attacked and destroyed by the Akatsuki leader Pain. Sakura and Naruto went up against him but during that time, Sakura had hidden her identity behind a mask.

The third time, was recently after the village was destroyed. Word of Sasuke's recent activities and ill-intensions towards the village had reached them and a decision was made between Sakura and the rest of their generation's ninja (excluding Naruto) to bring Sasuke down. Although they were meant to go as a group, Sakura had acted on her own; immobilising and separating from the group that were on their way to confront Sasuke and did so herself. Where she almost killed him but then Naruto and Kakashi appeared. Sakura had been in one of her djinn equips then and was about to unleash an attack on Sasuke that would have completely eradicated him. Although Sakura had been in confliction when she fought against Sasuke; there was a stronger force, driving her to stop him. To put an end to his threat.

Sakura didn't tell anyone where or how she obtained her power. Merely that she was the only one in this world that could wield it.

To this day, no one knew of Sakura's struggle in another world and she intended to keep it that way.

"I delivered the escaped convicts back to prison and I did say this before I left but just case, you should send a message that the recaptured men will be unconscious for about three more days." Sakura shrugged.

" _My poison is fast acting and long lasting." Stolas boasted in Sakura's mind._

Sakura's smile widened at her djinn's comment

"Thanks Sakura," Kakashi nodded. "You've been taking on a lot of missions lately this past few months. You're hardly in the village."

"Well, it can't really be helped. You accepted my request for that time off and I'm doing the same at the hospital for a few days." Sakura pointed out.

"Ah, that's right. It's that time of year again."

Sakura nodded in confirmation for the unspoken realization. "It's a very special occasion and I refuse to miss it under any circumstances."

"Of course it is. Forgive me, you know I'm not that great with dates anymore; when…

"One week." Sakura answered.

"I'll do my best to make it then."

Sakura shook her head softly, "Don't worry if you can't. The responsibility as Hokage comes first. You have an obligation to every person in the village. Don't slack now."

Kakashi sighed, "Why must you be right?"

Snickering, Sakura turned on her heel and walked towards the door, looking back when her hand was on the door handle.

"At least you'll have a valid excuse if you're late this time."

Kakashi laughed, shaking his head with folded arms, "That girl…."

* * *

In the early afternoon, Konoha was bustling with people on the streets. Sakura walked the busy streets, taking in the nostalgic scenery that was her home. She had only been away from a few days and it hadn't been enough to consider a long term mission, but she had plenty to miss here. And right now, there was also plenty for her to do.

Konoha hospital, was Sakura's destination and current location. The cold tiled floors, created a small echo with each footstep the pinkette took. She passed a long line of hospital rooms, until reaching a staircase and making her way up to the third floor. There was another long hallway to walk through before Sakura was where she wanted. She stood in front of a door that with the plaque, 'Head of Children's clinic office.'

Two years ago, Sakura and her friend Ino Yamanaka, had formed a children's clinic within the hospital to help treat recover from the traumatizing effects of the war. Having seen the kind of damage events like this does to children, first hand, Sakura had made the proposal shortly after the war, but it had taken a while for the request to go through and be validated. Shortly after, it didn't take much for the two to get the clinic running (on account of Sakura's previous experiences). Staff for the clinic had gradually increased the following two years now and the work load for Sakura had somewhat lightened, but Sakura still on call in the other hospital wards. Therefore she always had plenty to do there.

Sitting at the receptions desk, Sakura saw her friend going through the day's log books. Ino had long blonde hair that extended to her calves, with a bang that covered half her face and one of her baby blue eyes, she wore a purple top that covered her neck but exposed her arms and stomach, along with a long purple skirt.

"Sakura, you're back already?" Ino asked with a smile. She move around the desk, extending her hands towards the pinkette, who grasped them once they were close enough. "How did it go?"

"As it should-successful." Sakura replied, grinning brightly. "I see you've been busy while I was gone."

Ino nodded, "Sure has, things have been piling since you left."

Sakura looked back at the desk of paper work. "So I see."

"I just finished up the log and was about to head out for lunch. What do you say?"

"I say, let's go."

* * *

While Sakura and Ino sat outside of one of Konoha's café's, having ordered their lunch. Where they were able to hold conversation that could last for hours-a common gift of being best friends. You were able to entertain and hold each other's company. Sakura told Ino the details of her recent mission, while Ino gave Sakura the update on the happenings at the hospital.

"So, you're taking a break from the missions now huh?" Ino asked, resting her arms on the table.

"That's right."

"Well good, you need a break. I mean, I've barely seen you these past two months with all the missions you've been requesting." Ino took a jab at the chicken in her plate, drawing it to her lips.

Sakura placed her cup down after taking a large gulp of tea, then spoke. "I'm signing up for a couple of double shifts for the rest of the week."

Ino's jaw dropped, as she nearly dropped her fork into her plate. "Double shifts? Sakura, you're already working overtime as it is. Now you want to add night shifts-what about-

"I didn't forget Ino if that's what you're thinking. And my schedules cleared for the day." Sakura reassured her friend. "But I don't want to fall behind on my work. Besides, I'm only taking the nightshifts when I'll be taking off half the day."

Ino sighed, thrumming her fingernails against the table. "You do know there's more to life than just working, right Sakura?"

Sakura leaned back in her seat, throwing one of her arms over the top of the chair and using her free hand to grab a rice ball from her plate. "Fully aware Ino."

"You are heading for an early grave as a workaholic." Ino stated, causing Sakura to throw her head back and laugh.

"Please Ino, I thrive on my work." Sakura stated. "In fact, it's very useful for relaxing the mind."

'And helping to forget.' Sakura thought to herself, holding her smile in front of Ino. In whatever free moments Sakura could find in her ninja and regular life, she was always swept up in thoughts of Sinbad and his friends. Looking back to the past that was like a dream-only real to her.

"Oh yeah, how's Inojin doing?" Sakura asked after a few moments of quiet.

Ino smiled at the mention of her two year old son, "He's fine; but he's gotten sick and his fever keeps him up at night."

"Oh, just use a cool washcloth, also keep him under the blankets just no heavy clothing." Sakura told her, "And if that doesn't work try some 'over the counter' remedies. Almost any medicine will knock a baby out."

Ino giggled, "I'll do that; of course it's Sai who's having the most trouble dealing with this. We operate on shifts with the baby and when it's he's turn, I sometimes feel like giving him Advil. A triple dosage."

Sakura held her hand over her mouth to contain her laugh, her shoulders racked. "That sounds terrible."

Ino was married to Sai; he had been a replacement for Sasuke as their teammate. To say that Sai was a replacement, seemed to have taken to the extreme, especially after they saw him and noted the physical similarities between him and Sasuke. They had the same dark hair and charcoal coloured eyes (not the mention the wooden expressions that seemed often permanently carved in their faces).

Their appearance and the fact that they were on the same ninja team at different times was all that they actually had in common. Their personalities set them worlds apart but just like Sasuke; Naruto had managed to harness hostile feelings towards him. They had even gotten a new team leader when Kakashi had become incapacitated after one of their missions. It had been a bit difficult in the beginning but eventually, Sakura and Naruto had adapted well to their new teammates. Of course, Sakura hadn't been present for most of their missions after Yamato was appointed as their captain and Sai joined.

"It is." Ino confirmed, taking a sip of her tea. "Although Sai has come a long way, compared to when I first met him."

"Considering he was completely oblivious to the most obvious displays of emotions, I agree."

Ino wasn't the only one in their generation to have settled and form a family. Shikamaru, Ino's former teammate was married to Temari, their comrade from Suna; they had a baby now as well, Shikadai. Ino's other teammate, Chouji had also gotten married and had a daughter now as well. Naruto was actually the first to get married in their group; he married Hinata, who had loved Naruto since they were children (a similar affiliation that Sakura had with Sasuke). They had a boy named, Boruto.

"You know, you helped him a lot with that Sakura." Ino told the pinkette.

"I did?"

"Of course; Sai and I talked about it." Ino gave a smile, with sad eyes. "You were the first person he fell in love with."

Sakura closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath. "He told you that huh?"

"Yes. Although he was a little vague about the details."

After joining their team, Sai had come to the conclusion that he needed to work on his social skills when coming to terms with other people's feelings. Sakura told Sai that if he had any questions, then she would be willing to answer them without judgement or repercussions. She didn't think that Sai should have only depended on books to better understand people. That had resulted in them spending a lot of time together and she supposed that a crush would have been appropriated, but falling in love was another matter.

The blonde then noticed her friend had been glancing at her reflection in the cup for almost over thirty seconds, as if she was allowing her mind to leave her body here.

"Sakura?"

She looked back up, smiling. "Yeah?"

"You know." Ino trailed, looking down into her tea cup. "You should probably think of marrying too."

Sakura frowned, "What? Ino where did that come from? Why would I get married?"

Ino shrugged, appearing nonchalant in her response. "Why not? You're still young and it's not like you're a prude or unattractive. You're just a workaholic and when you're not working…"

Sakura raised her eyebrow at her blonde friend, "Ino, you know that work isn't the only thing that takes up my time and I honestly couldn't be happier for it."

Ino sighed, "I know, but still it wouldn't be so bad right? Think about it."

"No, I suppose it wouldn't." Sakura admitted. "Of course what I think isn't going to change anything. You know I now have what most males would consider a 'handicap' to dating."

"What about Sasuke?" Ino asked and she saw Sakura's shoulders stiffen.

Sakura hadn't seen her teammate for almost two years now. He wanted to travel to atone for his sins. Sakura had encouraged him that day, to go out in to the world and gain the experience and wisdom that comes with seeing what the world has to offer. Sasuke had only come back a few times, after commencing his journey, during that time Sakura allowed Sasuke to stay with her. Their relationship had improved, compared to when they were both genin. They had shared moments, but that's all they were really. Moments.

'And stolen moments don't make a life' Sakura told herself. Her relationship with Sasuke was more intimate in private, but she hadn't told anyone about this; assuming that Sasuke would prefer it that way and she was fine with that. Because she had decided a long time ago, that she wouldn't be the one pinning after other's affections anymore.

It wasn't as if Sakura's feelings for Sasuke had changed, she still loved him. Before Sasuke left the village, he had given Sakura a poke on her forehead, promising to see her soon. Without needing to say it, Sakura knew that it was his sign of affection. Something his older brother Itachi use to do to him as a child. She returned that sign, with a simple kiss on his cheek before he left. She wouldn't be able to forget the expression on his face, the subtle surprise.

"I don't really think that's going to happen Ino, and I'm okay with that."

* * *

After her light lunch and heavy conversation with Ino, Sakura went to the super market. She knew that her fridge and cupboards wouldn't be able to supply her with the ingredients she needed to make dinner tonight. She went through the grocery isle, with a shopping basket in her hands. It was a bit comical, given her attire and mattered appearance. She had just come from a mission. She started sifting through the refrigerated section; she filled her basket with packed meat and chicken, then she went to get the rest of her shopping list that she memorised before leaving for her mission that week.

Sakura stood in front of the vegetable section and started picking out some ingredients that were going in for tonight's dinner. The sound of a shopping cart rolling near her, caught Sakura's ears but not her attention. Until it stopped right beside her.

"Sakura, you're back."

Turning her head, there was a women in her early twenties, with waist long navy blue hair that was straight-cut and clear white-lavender eyes, she wore a loose pink top with a long green dress under, despite its modesty some of her more 'ample' curves were still outlined. Hinata Hyuga-or rather Hinata Uzumaki now. She was pushing a shopping cart, with eggs, meat, cheese, instant ramen cups-and a baby boy. The baby had short blonde hair, deep blue eyes, and two marks on his cheeks that looked like whiskers.

"Oh Hinata, hello." Sakura then noted the stack of ramen cups in the cart and chuckled. "Naruto finish his supply of weekly ramen?"

Hinata nodded, giggling softly. "How was your mission?"

"It went over smoothly," Sakura replied, crouching down to the cart to look at Boruto. Lightly poking the child's chubby cheek. "He's looking more and more like Naruto every time I see him."

"He does," Hinata replied, smiling with a bit of pride.

"If he turns out to be like he's dad, you're going to have your hands full." Sakura stated, rubbing the boy's head. "Of course that's not necessarily a bad thing."

"Mmm."

When Sakura stood up straight; she arch her upper body and hit a part in her back, groaning softly.

"You've been working really hard huh Sakura?"

"So everyone keeps telling me," Sakura chuckled.

"You should really take a break."

Sakura waved her hand, "Again. So everyone keeps telling me."

"Naruto says that he hasn't seen you in weeks, he wanted to talk to you about something."

Sakura laughed, shaking her head. "Tell Naruto he can wait one more."

At first, Hinata was confused as to what Sakura was referring to and then she gasped when it finally came to her.

"Oh that's right; it's-

"Exactly." Sakura nodded, grabbing some more items from the isle. "I'm going to be really busy till then."

"I understand."

* * *

When Sakura was only twenty, she moved out of her parent's home and got one of her own. She bought a house on a hill, closer to the edge of the village, near the forest. The term neighbours could only really be used loosely around there. After being rebuilt, the village started to grow again after a rapid decline in population and Sakura didn't take well to all of the crowds. Her situation always seemed to be like this; even in the other world when she was with Sinbad. The house also reminded Sakura of something similar she and Sinbad had talked about wanting in another life. A life where she wasn't a ninja and he wasn't a king. A dream that they knew wouldn't be their reality.

Sakura kicked off her shoes and put on her slippers before setting food on the wooden floors. She walked a short distance down a passage way, turning a corner to reach the kitchen. She placed bags of groceries on top of the counter, before going around the way she came to get to her bedroom. Her bed was placed against the wall where her door was, near the centre of the room, with a nightstand on one side where Sakura usually slept. There was a dresser on the opposite side of the bed and her closet next to it. A bookshelf placed on the right side of the room, next to the window.

Sakura went over to the dresser and started removing her metal vessels.

"Thanks everyone."

" _You're welcome, my king." All five djinns replied._

Sakura opened one of the bottom draws of her dresser, where she kept her brushes, makeup bag and other items. Pulling the draw out almost all the way, Sakura reached in far to the back of it, until her fingers hooked under something at the back and Sakura pulled it up, lifting the base of the draw. She put her metal vessels in the hidden compartment of the draw; something she had built in herself and then placed it back over.

Glancing up in the mirror, Sakura ran her fingers along her neck with the chain, leading to the two rings that hung from it.

* * *

The pan was sizzling from the combination of oil that met with the meat and vegetables lined up neatly on a stick. Sakura wiped her hands on the apron she wore. Crouching down at the counter, opening a draw to take out the plates. She then stretched to reach the top shelves, to get the cups.

After taking a quick shower to wash away the results of her recent mission and changing into a comfortable plain blue dress and apron. She then went to cooking dinner and she didn't leave until after she had the food on the pan.

Sakura set the plates and cups down at the table; five seats. She then went to take a bottle of soy sauce with an empty cup in the middle of the table, a location attainable from every seat at the table.

Wiping her forehead, Sakura looked at the clock hanging on far corner of the wall that was reading nearly at seven.

'Should be here soon.' Sakura thought as she untied her apron.

There was a knocking at the door; Sakura ran over to answer, sliding the door open. Sakura's parents stood at the entrance. Sakura's mother, Mebuki Haruno had shoulder length blonde hair and emerald green eyes, similar to Sakura's, wearing a white qipao dress. The man next to her, was Kizashi Haruno, he had dulled pink hair-almost grey; he had side burns as well and bright blue eyes. He wore a loose fitting kimono shirt with burgundy coloured pants.

"Hello Sakura," Kizashi greeted his daughter. "Finally back from that mission."

"Yeah." Sakura smiled when she saw her parent's faces.

Mebuki returned the smile, "I take it you were successful."

"It was-ooomph!"

Sakura stumbled back when a force came knocking into her torso and legs, her waist gripped tightly but Sakura wasn't alarmed. All she did was look down, her grin widening. There were two small figures hugging her waist.

A boy with fair skin, short violet hair, sticking out in strands and bright emerald green eyes. He wore a plan red tank top and black pants. The other culprit for capturing the pinkette in a grip was a young girl, also with short, shoulder length purple hair and deep golden coloured eyes. It was easy to see from their faces that the two were related, siblings or more specifically, twins. Both looked up at Sakura with bright smiles.

They spoke simultaneously "Welcome home mom!"

Sakura chuckled softly, placing a hand on both of their heads. "Hello my baby angels."

 **THAT'S ALL FOR NOW.**

 **The reason it's so short is because this is just the prologue and the next chapter will be following shortly so you better book mark because I'm on a short break from university and I'll be updating on the 30** **th** **March!**

 **DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW.**


	2. The Past:First mission part1

**As promised; I'm back on the 30** **th** **with the next chapter!**

 **So before you get to the second chapter, I thought I should inform all my readers in advance the basic structure of this story. I thought about it for a while when I was writing the sequel and realized something. There were two ways I could've gone; that was either with Sakura from the beginning of her return to her world OR years later with her children. This was a bit of a dilemma but I finally found a compromise.**

 **This story is going to be doing time jumps. Simply look at the chapter title to know.**

' **PAST'-will be following the story line of Naruto shippuden.**

' **Present'-will be when they are all adults.**

 **I'm doing this to make it easier to follow and this way….You'll get the best of both worlds.**

 **READ AND ENJOY.**

* * *

When Sakura returned to her world, she found herself as intact as she was on the day that she had left-nothing out of place. She had been transformed back into her young teenage self and everything seemed fine for a little while. Not too long after Sakura had returned to her world, Naruto had returned to their village. Everything was falling back into place and those years Sakura had spent with Sinbad and his friends were becoming like a dream, a shadow in her reality. Visible but untouchable. However, that shadow materialised into something very solid and what Sakura would describe as the most terrifying and wonderful discovery of her life.

 _It all started almost more than ten years back…._

* * *

The morning sun was bright and hot, shining through the drapes and glass door into a small room. Cramped with a desk, cupboards and a desk in the corners. The plain white covers of the bed, shifted as the figure under began to move and shuffle out of the bed with a soft groan. There was the soft sound of patters against the wooden floors, reaching the full-length mirror tucked between a dresser and corner, there stood a teenage girl, rubbing her tired emerald green eyes, then attempting to sooth her hair, pink tresses cut so short, in a boyish manner, exposing the back of her neck.

After a shower, the pinkette returned to the mirror, dressed in black shorts with a grey apron skirt and a red tube top with a single strap piped with black. She tightened her headband around her head, slipped an arm bracelet on, strapped a dagger to her waist and threw a necklace and a chain with two rings around her neck.

Slapping her hands at her sides, she nodded to her reflection.

"Ready."

* * *

Sakura Haruno-kunoichi, medical ninja, apprentice of the fifth Hokage and female member of team seven, those were all the titles she had to her name. A girl with no hereditary gifts as a ninja. A girl with a fairly clear background and peaceful childhood in comparison to her other teammates. Her life free of complications. Then she discovered a mirror, a Looking Glass that drew her into a world filled with magic and danger. She remained there for years, discovering the wonders and tragedies of this world and its inhabitants as well as herself.

In the process of meeting new people, making new friends and enemies; she fell in love with a boy who wanted to become a king. His name was Sinbad. For an amount of time, Sakura was willing to leave her world behind to stay with Sinbad. However things were not as simple as they appeared. When Sakura and Sinbad's relationship progressed, Sakura realized that this was not a life she could endure and chose to return to her word, with the determination to complete her unfinished business.

Sacrifice calls for you to put the needs of others above your own and do what is right and that's what Sakura did. She gave up the man she loved, to return to the world she belonged. Upon returning, she discovered that magic could be a really useful gift, taking her back barely a moment before she discovered the mirror, back in time to help those she had promised but even though her body had reverted back to what it was, on the outside, there was much that Sakura was carrying on the inside of her from the other world. A new wisdom, a new power, a new perspective and….

"Good afternoon, Lady Tsunade, Shizune." Sakura greeted as she entered the Hokage's office. It was a large circular room with a desk in the middle, documents stacked on top and next to it. There was a women sitting behind the desk, she had long blonde hair tied in low pig tails, with hazel colored eyes and a distinct rhombus shaped mark on her forehead. Sakura's mentor and the current Hokage of the Konohagakeru, Tsunade. And standing next to the women, was her first apprentice and assistant, Shizune, a young women with short brown hair and coal dark eyes.

"Ah, Sakura?" Tsunade looked over to her apprentice. "You're early."

Sakura rubbed the back of her head, smiling. "I am? I didn't realize."

"Well, that's better I suppose. I was just about to send Shizune to go and pick up the afternoon trafficking reports but there's also a request for a medical procedure at the hospital and she's been called in." Tsunade said.

"I'll pick up the reports right away." Sakura said, running towards the door and giving a friendly wave. "I'll be back soon."

Tsunade and Shizune, remained silent as the pinkette exited the room.

"Sakura seems to be in good spirits lately." Shizune said.

"Yes, she does." Tsunade replied, spinning on her chair, she turned to face the windows. "It makes me wonder."

"Mm?" Shizune looked to her master with a questioning expression.

"Sakura's behavior lately, it feels like a sudden development." Tsunade said offhandedly.

When Sakura first appeared in the office with most of her hair cut off and in the new attire, Tsunade assumed that it was simply Sakura stepping out a little but as time progressed she noted a few unusual changes in the pinkette. She was more diligent, there was the slightest change of tone in her voice, holding herself differently, expertly; her eyes had a certain sharpness to them now; not what you would expect from a teenager that should still be in the phase of self-discovery. It was like Sakura made that discovery over-night.

"What exactly does that mean?" Shizune asked.

"It's like she's grown up."

* * *

Konoha's streets were bustled with people moving out and about their day, the sun still burned brightly that afternoon. As Sakura headed to the entrance gates of the village, she heard hurried footsteps behind her and a familiar voice.

"Sakura-neechan!"

Turning around, Sakura saw three twelve year old children running towards her, two boys and one girl. She recognized the three as Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi. They were beginner ninja but a few years ago, they were her teammate Naruto's little followers. They admired Naruto, especially Konohamaru.

"Hey you three." Sakura smiled, stopping to turn.

"Where are you going?" Konohamaru asked.

"The village's main gate to pick up the trafficking reports for Tsunade." Sakura gestured with her head in the direction. "Want to walk with me?"

"Sure!"

With the three genin joining the pinkette, they started talking about the team's recent mission; to catch a runaway house cat. Sakura couldn't help laughing when Konohamaru talked about the way the cat had scratched him up after running them around nearly the entire village and complaining about how much he wanted to get a real ninja mission.

"That stupid cat could really run!" Konohamaru growled.

Sakura giggled, "We had that mission too. Naruto had a hard time too."

Konohamaru looked back at Sakura, walking with his hands behind his head. "Come to think of it, have you heard anything from Naruto-niichan?"

Sakura shook her head, "No; although it's about time for him to come back."

* * *

They made it to the large main gates of Konoha, the two large gates surrounded by a wall that surrounded the entire village was scaled nearly fifty feet. There was a check point at the gate, where two ninja were sitting, guarding the gate.

"Good afternoon, Izumo, Kotestu." Sakura greeted.

"They're back! Go take a look around town."

Sakura titled her head in confusion as to who or what the ninja was referring to.

"You'll see something interesting."

Sakura scrunched her nose in thought, "Something interesting….." her eyes widened in realization. "It can't be!"

Forgetting about the trafficking reports, Sakura took off back into town, followed after by Konohamaru and his friends who were calling after her to slow down.

" _My king, what has you so worked up all of a sudden?" asked Beleth_

'It's him, I'm sure of it!"

* * *

The feeling was nostalgic, stepping out into the village for the first time in years. Nothing had really changed since leaving, not even the way the wind blew through the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

Standing from on top of a large steel pole, everything could be seen throughout the village, including Hokage Mountain, with the five faces carved side by side in it. Leaning back and drawing a breath, the figure dressed in orange and black stood tall from the top called out loudly, happily.

"Everyone, Naruto Uzumaki has returned!"

As the blonde haired, blue eyed teen, overlooked the village. He didn't catch the hasty patter of feet but he heard a soft voice calling his name.

"Naruto, is that you? When did you get back?"

"Just now!"

Jumping down from the pole, Naruto saw four figures waiting to greet him. Seeing the pink hair from where he was standing, excitement filled him at the prospect of seeing his old teammate. However when he reached the bottom, he was a little taken aback by the girl he assumed to be his teammate. She had emerald green eyes that definitely belonged to Sakura, pink hair but it had been cut really short that hardly any strands touched her neck, she wore red like Sakura, only she had a tube top with a single strap, spandex shorts and a grey apron skirt. She also appeared to have a lot of accessories. There was a hairpin, attached firmly to her top. Her right arm held a bracelet on her upper arm. There was a dagger tied securely to her waist and around her neck, two rings on a chain and another silver necklace.

"Sakura?" Naruto called unsurely.

The pinkette smiled, tilting her head as she closed her eyes, an overwhelming happiness filling her. "Hi Naruto."

Naruto stared wide eyed at the girl, standing up straighter. "Are you, really Sakura?"

Sakura smiled, a small yet genuine smile of happiness at the sight of a very familiar and lovable friend that she had not seen for a really long time (longer than anyone could predict), he had grown taller than her, his blonde hair was shorter but his eyes were just as bright as when he was a child. Naruto.

"Of course," she replied, placing her hands on her exposed waist. "Who else has pink hair in this world?"

"It's just…." Naruto trailed observing her "You look kind of different,"

Sakura shrugged "Really, I can't really say I've noticed-you on the other hand, you're taller than me now."

Naruto held out his hand straight, holding it above his head. "I guess I am."

Reaching forward Sakura wrapped her arms around Naruto, enveloping him in a warm hug-something she had feared for several years she wouldn't be able to do.

"Welcome home, Naruto."

Naruto remained frozen in surprise, his arms that were hanging limply by his sides. He couldn't ever remember Sakura being affectionate towards him-not in this manner to say the least. He felt his heart rate pick up, swallowing as he raised his arms to wrap around the girl.

"Thanks, Sakura."

Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon stood with gaping mouths and blushing faces as they stared at the two teammates.

And they weren't the only ones watching.

A familiar fifty year old man with long spikey white hair almost body length, dark eyes with red painted lines running down his face was watching the pair. Jiraiya. One of the three legendary Sanin of the Leaf Village, Tsunade's former teammate and Naruto's mentor. He had left the village two years ago with Naruto to train the young boy and make him stronger.

'That's Sakura now huh?' Jiraiya asked himself. 'Thought she'd be more like Tsunade after all this time.'

" _So that's our king's old teammate that she keeps speaking so highly of?" Beleth said._

" _You sound jealous." Deadpanned Sitri_

" _I am merely trying to understand the appeal." Beleth argued._

" _No need to get so defensive." Stolas said._

" _Yeah, you should really get that complex of yours under control." Gaap chided._

" _What complex?" Beleth asked._

" _The 'first djinn' complex that makes you believe you are entitled to a greater aspect of our king's life than the rest of us." Orias replied in a matter of fact tone._

" _I do not have a complex."_

" _Yes you do." The four djinn stated._

* * *

After the heartwarming welcome, Naruto, Jiraiya and Sakura took off to Hokage Tower where Tsunade was waiting for Sakura to bring in the reports. However, she-like Sakura, forgot about them when she saw Naruto and Jiraiya enter with her. They discussed Naruto's results from the long term training; which Jiraiya and Naruto both validated

"Well then, let's see those results." Tsunade leaned forward against the desk, clenching her hands together. "I'd like you to fight against someone. I even put him off missions for a few days to gather his strength."

Sakura and Naruto remained quiet, waiting for Tsunade to reveal their opponents name but before that could be said, there was a knock on the door and Tsunade shouted 'enter'. The door opened revealing two ninja, both with stoic faces as they entered, hands on their hip. The first was a young male with dark hair, tied up in a spiky pony tail and dark brown eyes. That was Shikamaru Nara, he was in the same class as Sakura and Naruto; they had all graduated the academy together. He was also the first person to become a chunin in their generation. The other was a female, with dark blonde hair styled in two pairs of pigtails and dark green eyes. She was Temari, from the sand village, Suna. She was also the older sister of the puppet master ninja Kankuro and the current leader of Suna, Gaara.

Sakura waved towards them, "Shikamaru, Temari-san!" she pointed to Naruto, who was turned slightly to look behind him. "Guess who this is!"

Shikamaru narrowed his eyes before they widened in realization. "Naruto….Hey! If it isn't Naruto!"

Naruto returned the smile from his old friend, walking closer to him. "Shikamaru!"

"So you came back!"

"Yeah, I just got here." Naruto replied, his hands behind his head. "Wait, is Shikamaru supposed to be my opponent?"

Shikamaru frowned in confusion. "Opponent? I just came to pick up some documents."

"So it's not you then…." He then looked at Temari, unable to recognize her. "Who are you again?"

"You don't remember?" Temari asked, offended.

Sakura slapped her forehead, grinning; she realized that while Naruto might have physically changed, he was still the same Naruto she had known when they were twelve.

And she couldn't complain.

"Naruto!" Tsunade raised her voice to get the boy's attention, when he looked at her, she stretched out her arm to the side, pointing towards the long line of windows, to the outside. "Your opponent aren't these two, he's out there."

Naruto and Sakura went over to the window, peering their heads out, when they looked to the side, they saw someone sitting crossed legged on the outskirts of the buildings covering, with a book in his hands. He had spikey silver hair, wearing a mask that covered most of his face along with his headband that covered one of his eyes, his only facial feature visible was his coal black eye. Sakura and Naruto's former sensei, the copy-cat ninja, Kakashi Hatake.

"Hey Naruto, you've really grown."

Naruto grinned as he leaned out of the window, "Kakashi-sensei!"

Leaping out of the window, Naruto landed on the outskirt of the building crouching down. "You haven't changed at all-oh that reminds me."

Reaching in the back to get to his pouch, saying he had a present for Kakashi. It was the latest book from the series Kakashi enjoyed reading since Sakura and Naruto knew the man. Sakura and Tsunade watched the sight from within the building, taking in the nostalgic sight.

Kakashi opened to the first page, wide eye as if he was unveiling a great treasure, but Tsunade broke him from his euphoria.

"Okay, stop goofing around Kakashi." Tsunade firmly ordered, turning back into the room.

"Right," Kakashi closed the book.

Naruto stared up at his sensei when he stood. "Wait a minute….don't tell me you're my opponent Kakashi?"

"That's not quite accurate." Kakashi said before making his way around the corner of the building to the window. He stopped when he saw Sakura standing on the other side, seeming slightly taken aback by the pinkette's appearance. Sakura hadn't seen her old sensei since she returned to this world.

"Sakura?"

The pinkette nodded, glancing at Naruto as he climbed through the window. "It's been a while, Kakashi-sensei."

"You look a little different," Kakashi observed.

"That's what I thought too." Naruto added.

Sakura shook her head, snickering. "Anyway, what did you mean when you said being Naruto's opponent was accurate?"

Kakashi reeled back to the matter at hand, "Right, I'm actually going to be fighting Naruto and you Sakura. The two of you together."

Tsunade said she wanted to see how far Sakura and Naruto could go with Kakashi as their opponent, based on those results, she would decide 'how to deal with them'. Sakura felt that this match was not only to see the results of their training but also to determine if it was enough for them to continue with their mission to pursue and retrieve their former teammate Sasuke Uchiha.

* * *

Despite Naruto's protest, Kakashi insisted that before their match that they take some time to rest before meeting at the third training ground. Although it was obvious that the only reason Kakashi gave that interval was for his own agenda, reading his new book.

So Sakura and Naruto left the office with Shikamaru and Temari; who gave Naruto a shocking realization after mentioning being proctors for the upcoming Chunin exams. Being away from the village for two years, meant that Naruto was still a genin (a beginner ninja in rank), while the rest of his class had already been promoted to the next level of ninja, chunin (other's jumping to jonin). He also heard that Gaara; a boy with a similar past to Naruto's and the same affiliation to the tailed demons; had become Kazekage-the leader of his village. The same dream that Naruto aspired to achieve.

Naruto was pacing up and down across from where Sakura was leaning against an iron fence. After separating from Temari and Shikamaru, they had gone to the training grounds to wait for Kakashi. The update as of late seemed to have given Naruto an extra jump in his step.

"How long does he expect us to wait?"

Sakura shrugged, "He's always been like this, suppose two years doesn't change much."

" _So my king, for this test; are we finally going to be put to use in actual battle?" asked Gaap._

Sakura almost cringed at the eagerness in her djinn's voice. So far, all she had been doing was practicing to master Orias's metal vessel. She would go out into the mountains, far out of the village, completely secluded and safe from wandering eyes.

'I don't plan to-this isn't a battle, it's a spar, a test of our current abilities.'

While she fully intended to use her metal vessels in this world, Sakura thought carefully about the reaction she may receive at the sudden power she had acquired. There were some tales she did not want anyone prying her to tell.

Just when Naruto sat down, Kakashi appeared from a puff of smoke on top of the fence. "Hey-Hey, my bad! Actually, while I was on my way here I saw an old women who needed help, so I-

"You don't need to explain Kakashi-sensei; you're here now." Sakura interjected with a wry smile. She started walking towards the training grounds in the forest. Stopping to look back at the two males, "Come on let's go."

* * *

The third training ground; it was where Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke had their first assignment as ninja. Rather, it wasn't an actual mission but the final evaluation to see if they were truly ready to become ninja in training. A nostalgic feeling overcame them when they looked at the three logs that stood in the ground, surrounded by the grassy field and forest. Their first exercise as a team; was to take two bells from Kakashi and they had to do it before noon or they would go without lunch and if they failed to get the bells by the end of the day then they would be kicked off the team. That was what Kakashi had told them anyway. Naruto had cheated, attempting to eat his lunch before the time and he ended up being tied to the post alone. When Kakashi left, Sasuke and Sakura had broken the rules for Naruto by offering him their lunch. Choosing their comrade over the mission. That was what Kakashi had wanted from the beginning; it was also the first time they had learned Team seven's way.

'Those who abandon their mission are scum but those who abandon their friends are worse than scum.'

Sakura's heart clenched; it had been the first thing she truly learned as a ninja yet she had once disregarded it when she was in the other world with Sinbad. Choosing him over her morals and she had paid for it.

"This was your first training area wasn't it?" Kakashi said, looking up from his book.

"We were team seven." Sakura breathed softly.

Naruto looked down sadly, "A three-man cell."  
"Back then we had Sasuke with us." Kakashi recalled.

Sakura and Naruto went quiet for a moment, reminiscing in the last moments that they had seen Sasuke. What he said to them, how he looked at them. The first to break away from the depressing veil about to fall over, was Sakura.

Clapping hands, the pinkette grinned widely. "So, when do we start?"

Kakashi and Naruto looked at Sakura, surprised by her quick recovery.

"Sakura…" Naruto trailed. "Are you…?"

"I'm fine." Sakura confirmed, "After all; the only thing worth getting depressed about; is something that cannot be remedied and Sasuke is not one of them right?"

Naruto clenched his fists at his sides, nodding in determination. "Right. That's why I've been training."

Kakashi's eyes softened. He hadn't seen any of his students in so long, even though Sakura had remained in the village, they had been out of contact but when he looked at her like this, he wondered if he had stayed around her long enough, would he have noticed the atmosphere around her, this odd change.

Sakura didn't have the same struggles that Kakashi could relate to, as he could with Naruto and Sasuke. She also didn't have an intense drive for anything; not like Sasuke had to kill his brother Itachi or like Naruto had to surpass Sasuke and become Hokage. Only after the Uchiha left did she find a drive to strengthen herself and she did so under Tsunade's training. However, the way she carried herself now as entirely different to the twelve year old kunoichi that had been placed in his care. The nostalgia was thin when he looked at her now.

'Suppose not everyone stays the same after two years.' Kakashi rationalized. He moved his free hand into his weapons pouch.

Heads turned to a twinkling sound. Looking back, they saw Kakashi holding two familiar bells in his hand. "Well, I'm going to see just how much you've improved."

The same rules applied as they did those years ago, they had to come at him with everything they had if they wanted to succeed and they could use whatever skills, abilities or tricks to get the bells.

"Come at me-

"Like we're going to kill you right?" Naruto smirked.

"Or else we won't' be able to get them, right?" Sakura finished.

"Exactly."

Kakashi told them that they would have until tomorrow to get the bells; while he told them this, Naruto tightened his headband and Sakura pulled out her gloves, flexing her fingers. Kakashi put his book away, feeling that he was going to have to go all out as well this time. With that he removed the top of his headband covering his eye, to reveal his Sharingan. An inherited Kekegenkai from the Uchiha clan; that had been transferred into Kakashi.

Sakura grimaced when she saw that eye. Now aware of how he had obtained it, from his former teammate Obito. Of course, the story didn't just end there with that eye.

Before Sakura returned to her world; she had received certain knowledge on account of the magi Yunan's magic. The memories of his visits to this world, what he had seen and all that he knew about it. It made Sakura tremble when she explored that knowledge. It was part of why she returned.

There was a brief stare down between Kakashi, Naruto and Sakura. Naruto then broke the tense atmosphere, rushing forward. When the battle started he had thrown his shuriken first at Kakashi, who ducked and returned with his own shuriken attack and then got Kakashi off guard with a shadow clone that moved him out of the way of the attack, followed by a transformation Jutsu that turned the clone into a large wind shuriken but then Kakashi caught Naruto from behind, holding the back of his head so he couldn't turn to attack.

"Okay, that's enough." Kakashi said.

Behind Kakashi, Sakura saw one of Naruto's clones holding a kunai knife to Kakashi's back.

'He's gotten a lot better.' Sakura observed.

"You've matured Naruto." Kakashi smiled, "But you're as impatient as ever. I haven't said start."

Shifting on her foot, Sakura readied for the go. Kakashi closed his eyes, "Okay, start."

With that, their sensei vanished in a puff of smoke. Surprising Sakura and Naruto.

"Damn!" Naruto exclaimed.

" _Do not lose your focus, my king." Beleth spoke, "Remember what you've learned."_

'Right.'

Sakura looked around, left, right, up and then down; she smirked drawing back her fist before hitting the ground with her chakra punches. Tsunade and Jiraiya were watching the two from a distance and she planned on showing them what the other world had taught her, but she wouldn't reveal her djinns power. That was to be reserved.

As the ground cracked and broke like the weakest glass, Kakashi was found hiding in the rubble looking as gob struck as Naruto was behind her.

'What terrifying strength.'

"Kakashi sensei," Sakura smiled, starring at the ninja. "Found you."

While Jiraiya sat on the tree, looking at the battle he couldn't help thinking how Tsunade had practically turned Sakura into the second version of her. Naruto made a mental note, that he was probably going to lose later on, not to act stupid in front of Sakura; in case she chose to use that strength of hers against him.

Kakashi leapt from his hiding place, standing on top of the rubble, looking back at Sakura, analyzing her techniques as he had with Naruto. With her precise chakra control, she was able to call upon that strength and she was originally a genjutsu type; that was on top of her medical jutsu.

As the bells jingled, Kakashi moved forward. "Alright, now it's my turn."

The sky turned a deep shade of orange, the sun about to set giving off its greatest light and warmth in its final moments before everything would become cold. Through the forest, Sakura and Naruto chased after Kakashi. Stopping to hide behind a tree when Kakashi leapt into some bushes.

Naruto went for the attack and Kakashi didn't remain in hiding for long. As he deflected the kunai knives thrown at him, pushing himself from a tree to counter Naruto before landing on the ground.

Sakura came out from behind the tree, standing beside Naruto.

Kakashi straightened his stance. "I'm going to teach you two. Shinobi Tactical knowledge number one. Taijutsu."

Running forward, Kakashi attempted a high kick but Naruto managed to avoid him. In turn, Sakura went to attack after Naruto jumped away.

Sakura was attempting to punch Kakashi, but he was avoiding each attack with ease. He was backing away without turning around, but that didn't mean that he wasn't focused by what was going on behind him and her punches were coming from all direction she could reach.

"If I can just land one hit!"

"But it's meaningless if you can't!" Kakashi countered. Sakura knew that with Kakashi's sharingan, he wouldn't he easy to catch off guard. He would know what she was going to do.

Sakura smirked, but that didn't mean she couldn't surprise him. Pushing chakra to the soles of her feet, Sakura burst forward and Kakashi had assumed she was going to go for a direct punch to his face but then she ducked down and extended her arms to wrap around him and tackle him to the ground, but then Kakashi disappeared from under Sakura and a log stood in his face.

"Not bad Sakura," Kakashi said.

'He's still fast.' Sakura thought looking around, he was up in a tree but Naruto was using his shadow clones to catch him. Though that didn't work out as Kakashi managed to defend against every single one of Naruto's clones attacks.

'Best chance of me getting him, is if I can somehow move fast enough before he can counter.'

Considering the way things were going, Kakashi looked like he was getting winded by now, but Sakura knew better than to drop her guard. Their fight was just beginning.

The battle raged on for a few hours, into the night now. They were searching the forest for Kakashi. Following the direction Naruto said he thought he heard the bells, although Sakura warned him that there was a possibility Kakashi rang them on purpose to lure them in that direction.

" _Come on my king, use us." Sitri whined. "You'll get those bells instantly with your speed in my djinn equip."_

'No.' Sakura firmly stated back to the djinn, 'Don't forget, your powers are enigmas in this world.'

As they continued to walk further into the woods, something began appearing in the distance, a silhouette that began to take shape and color, in the form of a young boy with onyx colored eyes and spiky dark hair, wearing a blue high collar top and white shorts. Someone both Sakura and Naruto recognized as their old teammate Sasuke Uchiha.

He appeared injured, with kunai sticking in his body and blood dripping from his wounds.

"Sasuke!" Naruto gasped.

The boy staggered towards them, "Naruto! Sakura! Please help me! I escaped from Orochimaru."

Sakura breathed out softly, starring at the injured 'boy'. Her mind was quick to process that this was just an illusion. After all, not only was the same move used on Sakura years ago by her sensei, but she was quick to rationalize that Sasuke looked exactly as he did years ago and she-having experience from herself, knew that wasn't possible without unnatural phenomenon's.

Although, this did give Sakura an idea.

" _What are you thinking my king?" asked Gaap_

'Let's see how Kakashi likes his own tricks.'

Closing her eyes, Sakura smiled. "It's a shame, I wish that for at least a second; I believed he was really here."

Sakura held her hands together, releasing the genjutsu and putting an end to the illusion. Naruto summoned a clone and held out his hand, the clone started maneuvering his hands around the original Naruto, chakra forming into a ball of chakra energy that continued to spiral. This was one of Naruto's special moves-Rasengan.

"Do you know where he is Naruto?" Sakura asked, peering at a tree trunk.

"Yeah!" Naruto said before leaping up to the tree, his attack breaking the trunk to pieces, splinters of wood scattered around like dust as Kakashi backed away just in time.

"What do you think Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura called, getting the copy ninja's attention. "You should know that the same tricks aren't going to work on us again. We're practically replaying the test from our genin days."

Kakashi sighed, his shoulder slumped forward. "No, that isn't always going to be the case."

There was something lying on the ground and Naruto realized that Kakashi had dropped the bells. That were just lying now on the patch of earth. Unguarded.

"He dropped the bells!" Naruto exclaimed rushing forward.

Sakura held out her hand, "Naruto don't-

It was too late. When Naruto was literally a foot away, he stepped into a rope trap that captured his ankle and lifted him into the air upside down.

Kakashi grinned, "At least Naruto still falls for the same tricks."

But then Naruto vanished in a puff of smoke and it only took a second for Kakashi to realize that Naruto was a fake, as the real one came up behind him to attack, but when he touched Kakashi, he vanished leaving nothing but a log in his place and they realized he had just used the replacement jutsu.

"Where'd he go?" Naruto asked, looking around.

Sakura closed her eyes; she remembered that she could now detect not only chakra, but magoi as well. The life force that as in every single being, even if they didn't use it.

'Found him.' Sakura kept her expression calm, smiling slightly.

Kakashi watched his two former students from the safety of a tree, they had certainly improved more than he thought and at this rate, they would definitely become fine shinobi. Sakura and Naruto were currently chatting with one another about finding him.

"Psst, Kakashi sensei behind you." He heard a whisper behind him. Kakashi leapt from the tree when he saw Sakura behind him and landed in another one but then the noticed that the pinkette didn't seem dissatisfied that he had escaped before she could attempt to hit him. There was a sizzling noise that caught his attention and he saw that there was a paper bomb at the back of the tree he had landed on!

He pushed off back onto the ground where Naruto was waiting to attack him now. 'She planned that?'

Naruto stepped back when he saw the Sakura he had been talking to vanish, he didn't even realize that it was a clone!

'Wow, Sakura…'

Sakura jumped down onto the ground as well, taking out a summoning scroll from her back pocket. Unrolling the scroll, a puff of smoke was followed by a sharp blade heading for Kakashi's body. He jumped back when Sakura swung her spear at him.

'I didn't know Sakura could use that weapon!'

Kakashi drew out a kunai, blocking the next attack from Sakura. Their weapons clashed several times. The pinkette was stepping fast, already knowing which step she was going to take after the previous on. She maneuvered the spear easily, gliding across the ground like she was skating on ice, despite all the spinning she was doing, the blade always managed to make contact with Kakashi's weapon.

Kakashi winced every time the blade came in contact with his kunai knife, Sakura was using her strength in her attacks even though it didn't appear like she was.

"When did she learn how to use a spear?" Tsunade asked looking at Shizune, who shrugged in response. She didn't recall the pinkette ever mastering any weapons aside from the basic shuriken jutsu.

Jiraiya continued to watch the battle, taking in the pinkettes sudden movements. It was as if she knew what Kakashi was going to do before he knew it himself. She was good, but that attack wasn't something Tsunade had taught her; he knew that because Jiraiya knew Tsunade.

And Tsunade did not use weapons aside from her bare fists.

It had taken Sakura a while to realize this but, she had felt something off since coming back to her world. While she couldn't see any rukh in this world, there was a sensation that brushed over her that was similar to what she felt with the rukh in that world.

'Sinbad's not the only one who can read 'waves' anymore.'

Kakashi was panting softly, skidding to the back. Looking at Sakura as she spun the spear around from behind her and then held it in front of her.

"Nice Sakura!" Naruto said, coming to stand beside her.

Sakura smiled, "Thanks."

She secretly thanked Hakuyuu for those lessons and for her continued training with Sharrkan, Masrur and Ja'far. Although they were children, they had their own specialized talents that had helped her improve her own skills.

Sakura then threw the spear at Kakashi, using her strength as Hinahoho did with his harpoon. It zoomed directly towards the copy-nin. Flying through the trees, Kakashi was relieved he managed to jump into the air before that attack hit him or he would be dead.

'Is she really trying to kill me?' he wondered.

"It's not over yet!" Sakura said, jumping into the air, drawing her fist towards Kakashi. She wasn't wasting time by waiting for a reaction from him.

'If that hits me, I'm out!' Kakashi thought in alarm, he had to flip himself in the air several times just to avoid the pinkettes attack. Sakura's fist hit the ground, creating a huge tremor and breaking through the earth.

'So close!'

Kakashi ran into a clearing in the woods, near a river and turned around as Sakura and Naruto came out after him. He then showed them shinobi tactical number three; ninjutsu. Drawing his hands in front of him, Kakashi began to form hand signs, too fast for either of his former students to follow, blurring quickly. Although the attack became obvious when he pinched his thumb and index finger together, bringing it to his mouth.

"Katon, Goukakuyuu Jutsu!"

A large ball of flames, hitting the ground headed straight for the two young ninja. Despite moving out of the way then, Kakashi had used an earth style technique to hide himself underground and grab Naruto's leg to pull him under, leaving nothing but his head on top of the surface-although it turned out to be a clone.

Sakura and Naruto ran towards Kakashi together, but when Kakashi leapt to the back and landed on top of the lake running through the woods, his hands blurring with signs that they couldn't make out. Sakura pulled back, grabbing Naruto from the back of his collar.

"Sakura what are you-

"We have to get back!"

It was too late though, Kakashi had already unleashed his water style technique, Suiton Suiryuudan no Jutsu. The water rose in streams, passed Kakashi where it formed a giant water dragon that came straight towards the two, enveloping them in a large wave that washed them further in the forest.

Sakura quickly realized that with Kakashi's earth style, water style and fire style-not to mention lightning style that he was yet to use against them; they were outmatched. At least with the way the battle was now. Naruto and Sakura chose to retreat into the foresting, finally stopping to slump behind a tree to gather their strength.

" _I'm telling you my king, use us already!" Sitri exclaimed._

" _Yes, you can make that water dragon of his look like a worm if you use me." Gaap chided. "And he wouldn't be able to hold a candle to Beleth's flames before it melted."_

" _And Stolas harnesses two elements-_

" _Enough." Orias interjected before Sakura could. "Our king has affirmed she wishes to do this without using our power; let her be."_

" _That is correct, have faith in our king's ability which has conquered our dungeons." Beleth stated._

Sakura inhaled in relief, 'Thank you.'

"Naruto, we need to try something else; at this rate there's no way we're going to get those bells." Sakura said, looking back at her friend who was peering behind the tree trunk, watching for Kakashi.

"Yeah, but what; Kakashi's so strong it's almost unfair and he's way more experienced than us."

Then Sakura thought for a moment; she remember something Sinbad had taught her a while ago about what it took to get your opponent off guard. Using whatever weaknesses you pick up against them, stepping on it with all your strength until they break.

"Kakashi's weakness." Sakura began, holding her chin. "If we can figure out something that will throw him off balance-we can strike."

Naruto looked up at the full moon, catching sight of an owl perched on a tree. Starring down at the ground where a mouse was scurrying and then it hit him.

"I know his weakness!"

Sakura leaned closer towards the spikey blonde, "What is it?"

"Think back Sakura and you'll figure it out."

Narrowing her eyes, Sakura began to think back to the one thing that always seemed to get Kakashi sensei's attention, something that would distract him from almost anything and that included battle. It must have been her time spent around males that had her coming to the shocking conclusion of the subtle obvious revelation.

"Oh my gosh!" Sakura exclaimed, covering her mouth when she smiled. "Make-out Tactics!"

Naruto grinned, "Exactly."

* * *

Kakashi was slumped behind a tree, resting his arms on his knees. He couldn't believe that the two had improved this much in such a short span of time, forcing him to use the sharingan to such an extent. After checking his pouch if he still had some weapons, grazing the book he had tucked away and was eagerly waiting to finish Kakashi decided that it was soon time to go out and look for them. Just then, the bushes rustled, Naruto and Sakura leapt out, preparing to pounce on their sensei.

"You're underestimating me!" Kakashi said, as he stood up quickly. "I can't believe you're attacking me head on like this!"

"Do it now Naruto!" Sakura called.

"Here I come Kakashi-sensei!"

Naruto and Sakura had figured out the best strategy to catching Kakashi off guard, by using what they were aware was a great weakness for him (as well as most male fans of Jiraiya's make-out series).

Spoilers.

"At the end of Make-out Tactics…" Naruto began. "Actually the main character….he…."

Kakashi's eyes widened with horror as he realized what the boy intended to do; spoil the ending of his beloved novel! Not wanting any spoilers, despite how defenseless this would make him, Kakashi covered his ears with his hands but then it dawned on him that with his sharingan's ability, he would still be able to read Naruto's lips!

Therefore he shut his eyes.

After everything went black, there was a few shuffling noises that could be heard and then the ringing of bells. When Kakashi opened his eyes he saw Sakura and Naruto standing in front of him with big grins on their faces as they held up the bells that they had grabbed when the copy ninja had dropped his guard. He then figured out what the pair had been up to all along.

"A ninja must read what's underneath the underneath." Naruto quoted.

"Right sensei?" Sakura held up two fingers, sticking out her tongue.

Kakashi sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "You got me."

What Kakashi discovered next had him slumping forward; it turns out that Naruto didn't actually know the ending of the novel but despite that, Kakashi had still fallen for the bluff. Naruto found the book boring and didn't make it past ten pages (which was a relief in a way given that minors weren't supposed to be reading it). Tsunade, Shizune and Jiraiya then appeared before the three, having watched the battle from a safe distance.

"I see how much you two have grown." Tsunade stated, looking between the two. Her eyes lingering a little longer on Sakura before she looked back to Kakashi. "Kakashi, do you have anything you'd like to say?"

Raising his hands, Kakashi shrugged, "Well they did an excellent job stealing the bells from me."

Tsunade nodded in response. Naruto and Sakura looked between the two before asking what they were exactly referring to.

"Naruto Uzumaki!" Tsunade exclaimed firmly,

"Y-Yes!" Naruto tensed.

"Sakura Haruno!"

Sakura straightened her shoulders, arms firmly at her side. "Yes!"

Once again, looking between the two teens, Tsunade made a surprising announcement. "The two of you with Kakashi Hatake will form Team Kakashi from now on."

Wanting a full explanation, Kakashi gave it. Telling Naruto and Sakura from now on that the three of them would be going on missions together and that it would no longer be as teacher and student; like years before. They were now on par with each other as equals.

And this was when Sakura truly felt like she was home.

* * *

'It really is good to be back,' Sakura thought starring up at the clear sky, the moon shining brightly down on the village hidden in the leaves. How many times she had doubted she would ever see her home again, she lost count after the first year. There were times when she wanted to let go of hope, take the easier path but then she'd think back-despite the decision it was not easy.

'I wonder, are you looking up at the same moon now Sinbad? No of course not, it might be day there for all I know.' Sakura thought shaking her head sadly, her heart clenched with an in describable pain. It had only been a month since Sakura returned from her own adventure, one no one would ever recall but she often dreamed about her days there, with Sinbad, Ja'far, Hinahoho, Masrur, Sharrkan and everyone else it seemed like it was becoming nothing more than a dream but every time Sakura thought it might have been just that she would hear Beleth, Sitri, Stolas, Orias's and Gaap's voices echoing through her mind and she would remember.

Naruto, Kakashi and Sakura were walking through the village streets, still filled with people going in and out of food establishments. While walking, Kakashi had his eye on the words in the book; determined to finish it. Since their battle, he had a slight trickle of paranoia for spoilers and he wanted to finish it before that trickle became a flood. Despite that, he was still able to hold conversation with Sakura and Naruto.

"You two have certainly become stronger," he stated. "I can't believe you managed to get the bells."

Naruto threw his head back, laughing. "I think I might've surpassed you, Kakashi-sensei."

"Yeah right Naruto, you were going on how much more experience he had than us." Sakura chided, smiling slightly as she watched the blonde slouch forward when she gave him away.

"Exactly so don't act so high and might Naruto." Kakashi warned, keeping his eye in his book. "I've recently developed a new technique and its well…"

In that moment, Naruto's stomach decided to react, growling loud enough for his friends to hear. He clutched his stomach with a sheepish smile. Going on about how he hasn't gotten ramen yet from his favorite restaurant in the village. Ichiraku ramen. The mentioning of food had Sakura realize that they haven't eaten since before their training.

"To Ichiraku!" Naruto exclaimed, ahead with Sakura following after. Kakashi stood, thinking back to the days when the teens would hang onto his every word and now...

Sakura and Naruto ran far ahead, expecting Kakashi to be behind them but when they turned around. They saw that he was exactly where they were standing before they took notice of their empty stomachs. Standing beside Kakashi was Jiraiya, but after he said something to Kakashi, he vanished in a puff of smoke.

"Kakashi-sensei, we decided you're treating us to ramen!" Naruto called.

"Sorry, I have to make a list of the new teams and submit them. So I'm outta here."

With that Kakashi held two of his fingers upwards and disappeared in smoke. Sakura's expression became solemn, she had seen Jiraiya with Kakashi for that instant and she doubted that it was just to make small talk.

Sakura scoffed, covering her worry. "He says that but I bet he just wants to finish that book."

Naruto grinned then, twiddling with his fingers when he registered that he and Sakura were going to be alone. "Then, the two of us can go on a date."

All these years and Naruto's feelings for Sakura were yet to change, at least that's how it appeared to her. After experiencing love, Sakura was more perceptive and aware of other people's feelings. Of course, Naruto's was obvious, he was a boy who wore his heart on his sleeves. It just didn't make sense to Sakura why he would direct his feelings towards her of all people. Especially after she knew the kind of person she was and had been. Naruto was still innocently hopeless when it came to girls. But she wanted to make amends for all that she had done wrong in this world; that included hurting Naruto.

Grabbing his wrist, Sakura started pulling him in the direction of Ichiraku's. "Fine but it's gonna be my treat, since you're probably flat broke."

* * *

The smell of ramen was strong around the store, as Sakura and Naruto entered Ichiraku ramen. It was a small restaurant, but popular for having the best ramen in the village. Naruto was especially particular to ramen; it was more like an obsession. As he and Sakura entered, excitedly, they were met with the founder and owner, Teuchi.

"Welcome." He greeted the two with a friendly smile. "Hello Sakura."

Sakura waved, "Evening."

Naruto grinned, "Hey old man, don't you remember me?"

Teuchi looked closer at the boy, questioningly. "Naruto?...Hey Naruto! As if I'd forget about you!"

A young women, standing behind the counter with Teuchi turned around. She was Teuchi's only daughter, Ayame.

"Naruto! You're all grown up!"

"Good to see you, nee-chan!"

Ayame turned to Sakura, "Wow Sakura, you look so cute with short hair."

Sakura rubbed the back of her head, "Thanks Ayame."

Naruto and Sakura took a seat at the long, red counter.

"What'll it be, you're both hungry right?" Teuchi asked.

"Yeah!" Sakura exclaimed, holding her stomach.

"Starving." Naruto added.

Teuchi gave a hearty laugh, "Well alright; it's my treat today! You two can have whatever you like."

Sakura grinned, "Thanks, looks like I won't be paying for this date after all!"

"No. Today it's my treat." Another voice interjected from behind the two. Sakura and Naruto turned around and saw a familiar man in his twenties, with dark brown hair tied back in a ponytail, dark eyes and a scar running across his face horizontal. Between his eyes and nose. This was their academy instructor Iruka.

"I'd figured you'd be here, Naruto." He said, ducking up the flags that hung on top of the restaurant. "And I see Sakura's here too!"

The two friends greeted their former teacher as he entered and took a seat beside Naruto "Iruka-sensei!"

Thanks to Iruka's generous offer to take care of the bill, Sakura and Naruto were able to order an extra-large ramen and were devouring it happily. Iruka watched the two, reminiscing of the times he had spent here with Naruto, when he was still in the academy and then just a genin and now; so grown up.

"This is so good!" Sakura said, taking a big slurp of ramen, barely giving herself time to inhale.

"Ichiraku ramen is the best!" Naruto exclaimed.

Teuchi nodded, satisfied with their reactions.

"But…" Naruto added, a solemn expression on his face now, which caused everyone to stop and look at him. "There's one thing I'm disappointed about."

Teuchi assumed that Naruto was talking about the ramen and almost leapt over the counter, but Naruto quickly explained what had him so down.

"I wanted the next time Iruka-sensei treated me to ramen to be when I become a chunin." Naruto looked down into his bowl. "Everyone else in my age group is already chunin and I'm the only genin left."

Sakura could feel her heart clenching painfully. With Naruto's determination and strength, she had no doubt that he would be able to become a chunin. Yes, when it came to the written test the first time, he nearly passed out, attempted to cheat and didn't answer a single question but he had made it to the final stage of the test. All because of his determination.

Sakura had learned very quickly that there was more to success in life than books and cleverness. Naruto had shown her that and so had Sinbad-who couldn't even read when they had first met.

'Now he's ruling a country.' Sakura unconsciously reached to touch the rings around her neck.

"You shouldn't worry about stuff like that Naruto." Sakura said, just as Iruka was about to reassure Naruto himself. "You were trained by one of the legendary Sannin, Jiraiya."

"I guess so." Naruto sighed, "But pervy-sage was merciless! He worked me so hard my headband fell apart and my clothes were torn to shreds."

Sakura snickered, holding her chopsticks to her chin, "You probably outgrew those clothes anyway Naruto."

"Yeah, besides you're stronger now thanks to your training." Iruka pointed out.

Naruto grinned then, pointing to himself. "Yeah, I'm one step closer to becoming Hokage!"

"Oh, you sound pretty confident."

"Speaking of which, Gaara from the Hidden Sand village has already become Kazekage."

Iruka nodded. "Yes, well he's sort of special."

Naruto looked away, "That doesn't have anything to do with it. You can't become Kazekage just by being special! I know he must've worked his ass off, was accepted by everyone…and became Kazekage!"

There was a short moment of silence, before Iruka spoke. "Now it's your turn to give it your all Naruto."

Naruto looked at Iruka before turning back to the counter. "But he's the Kazekage and I'm still a genin."

Sakura had been listening silently to the conversation between Naruto and Iruka; she had basically inhaled her food because in a few short minutes the entire large bowl of ramen was gone but when she did speak, both males turned to listen to her.

"You're not giving yourself enough credit Naruto; remember what Gaara was like when we met him?"

The first time Naruto and Sakura met Gaara and his siblings was before the Chunin exams. At the time, Gaara's only interest was Sasuke whom he wanted to fight and kill but in the end, it was Naruto who had turned Gaara away from his vicious ways of killing. That was a skill not even Sasuke possessed.

'People have both light and darkness within; Naruto has always been able to bring out the light in others…'

"Yeah," Naruto said. "He lived for nothing but killing then."

"And now he's the Kazekage." Sakura pointed, crossing her arms. "It's because of you Naruto."

"Huh?"

"He saw your determination. You set the example that gave him a goal to strive for." Sakura turned to Naruto, holding a strong look in her eye. "So you better not get discouraged because of a set back like ranking. Even if everyone says you becoming Hokage will never happen-a lot can happen between now and never."

With that Sakura pushed herself off of her chair, stretching out her arms. She started walking towards the exit "Well, I'm off. See you tomorrow Naruto; goodnight Iruka-sensei."

Naruto and Iruka watched as Sakura left Ichiraku's, soft footsteps fading until they were nonexistent. As he continued to stare out of the restaurant Naruto pondered the pinkettes words.

"Well; Sakura's certainly become wiser, wouldn't you say?" Iruka asked.

"Mmm but," Naruto paused, still starring forward. "It doesn't seem like her."

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

Sakura frowned, starring at her reflection in the mirror. She was twisting her body, rotating her torso and waist as far as they would go as if she was attempting to wring herself out like a wet towel. She rubbed her stomach; the skin felt tighter, stretching somehow.

'Maybe I shouldn't have had that extra-large bowl of ramen.' Sakura thought jokingly, moving over to her bed.

Sakura rolled onto her back, a smile on her face but her eyes sad. After reuniting, Naruto, Kakashi and Sakura were going to have their first mission soon and she knew that whatever was going to be chosen would be something moderately challenging given that Tsunade knew how Naruto would complain if they were given anything less but that was the least of Sakura's worries. There was a lot of things to make right in this world now and she planned on making every moment count.

'After all those inspirations, how could I disappoint?' Sakura thought covering her eyes with her arm. 'I left him for this; I won't let it be in vain.'

 _Sakura turned around, closing her eyes tight "You have Ja'far, Rurumu, Vittel, Mahad, Hinahoho and Mystras! They can help you handle everything!"_

" _But they're not the ones who are able to handle this!"_

 _There were three heavy footsteps followed by a tight hand grasping her shoulder to spin her back around, facing Sinbad once again. He took the hand from her shoulder, quickly snatching up Sakura's hand and placing it center left of his chest. Where Sakura felt a rapid but soft patter._

" _What am I supposed to do about this!?" He asked, nearly screaming._

 _Sakura seemed to be on pause, her entire body still until she finally managed to come up with a simple line in her head, now all that was left was to say it out loud. A distant memory recreated._

" _Just say Sakura, thank you-the rest should be easy…."_

 _Rapidly shaking his head, Sinbad stepped closer, "I need you-can't you understand that!"_

 _Taking his free hand, Sinbad drew Sakura nearer-their noses touched and their eyes could not have been closer. "I can't do this anymore either…." Sinbad trailed._

 _Sakura could feel her cheeks burning hot, her eyes were as wide as they could go and her mouth wanted to move; to say something. "Sinbad…" Sakura trailed softly, closing her eyes "I-I'm not the same anymore. I can't just go back to being-_

" _I DON'T CARE." Sinbad screamed. "Your appearance, your abilities, your djinn's, your strange power; none of that matters. You don't have to use any of it to help the company or me. As long as you remain where I can see you-that's all I care about." Sinbad stated, a light blush dusting his cheeks in turn._

" _I know I'm not your ideal, I'm selfish, greedy, conceited, have bad habits and I know you have a whole long list but even so I want you to stay with me. I don't want you to abandon me." He took a breath, "In return for all of that; I'll always forgive you no matter what, I'll sacrifice for you, I'll respect you, I'll stay committed to you; I'll protect you,"_

Sakura woke that morning with a startle; she was not very fond of dreams that took her to the past. Because at the end of it, she would have to wake to the reality she had chosen.

She slid out of bed, glancing out of the window, she knew she had woken up one or two hours too early. She moved around her little room, turning to her night stand where her five djinn metal vessels were placed. She had brought them into her world, but she was yet to use them.

"Good morning," she greeted them, moving to her closet. She had tailored all of her ninja outfits to resemble what she had worn before in the other world, cutting it shorter and sowing the material to fit tighter. Even though it hurt to think back to those years; she wanted to remember how it had shaped her both inside and out.

She fiddled with a strand of hair, "I don't ever want to forget them."

* * *

When Sakura's mother Mebuki Haruno woke up, smelling something that could only be described as tantalizing; she shook her husband Kizashi to come with her and investigate. Neither were expecting to see their daughter wearing an apron, moving from between the small corner kitchen to the dining table; carrying several plates.

"What smells so good?" asked Kizashi taking a seat at the table along with his wife.

Sakura smiled turning around, with the last tray in hand. She set it down on the table. "Just breakfast."

Mebuki gaped at the spread in front of her; there was an assortment of omelets; toast turned golden, pancakes with a syrup she was certain had to be self-made and a fruit bowel cut in the most decorative form.

Kizashi was the first to dish himself a set of pancakes, adding some of the fruits and automatically digging in. "Mmm; these are delicious Sakura! How'd you make them?"

The pinkette laughed at her father's stuffed face, "It's my own recipe."

She had noticed something very off about her daughter for the last few weeks. Now she loved her daughter and only child with all her heart, but the girl had always been inept when it came to household duties like cooking and cleaning. Yet lately, Sakura had been doing all of her chores without Mebuki having to yell at her and she did them perfectly. Now that word was typically considered an exaggeration, but Sakura came pretty close. Because of that Mebuki found herself arguing less with Sakura.

Taking a seat, Sakura started filling her own plate but stopped, the smell of the delicious food she made gave her a sour taste in her mouth. She instead went for the fruit salad she made instead.

"I'm going on a mission today,"

A mother's intuition was a sharp one and Mebuki's was telling her that something was off with her child. Though many would call this an improvement or increase in a level of maturity; it still seemed too fast. She carried herself in a way that projected something that Mebuki couldn't quite put her finger on.

"Do you know when you'll be back?" Mebuki asked, taking a bite out of her breakfast, her eyes widened-when did Sakura learn to cook like this?

Sakura shook her head, "No; it's the first mission with my team. I'm guessing Lady Tsunade will want to send us out for a while, so I figured I'd have breakfast with you guys before I go."

Now that was another peculiar thing, Sakura made tiny efforts to spend more time with them, be it going shopping together, helping with chores that weren't hers, sitting around them.

"Sakura," Mebuki called, catching the pinkette's attention.

"Yes?" Sakura asked after swallowing her food.

Mebuki paused for a moment; "Is everything alright?"

Sakura smiled brightly, "Of course."

* * *

"What? A convoy transport!?" Naruto cried in dissatisfaction.

Sakura, Naruto and Kakashi stood in front of a long table, Tsunade sitting behind it with Iruka and Shizune; the large room empty of anything else. It wasn't a surprise for Naruto to have this kind of reaction; after all, he finally returned after nearly three years of training and his first mission with his teammates was a C-rank. Tsunade had wanted to give them a harder mission in all honesty, but Shizune insisted that she give them something a little easier for the first one.

"Naruto, I assigned you a simple mission because you haven't been in action for a while." Tsunade pointed out.

Frowning, Naruto leaned forward "That's bull! I don't need you to go easy on me."

Before anyone else to could speak, Sakura beat them all to it. "Naruto…"

Turning to Naruto; everyone watched cautiously knowing the pinkette's record temper for beating the blonde whenever he protested against authority. However, all she did was place her hand on the blonde's shoulder.

"Listen Naruto; I know it's been a while and you want to get out there in the biggest way possible, but we can't decide what missions we can or can't do. However…" Sakura said calmly, taking a breath she turned to Tsunade. "Tsunade-sama; I have to agree with Naruto on this. I know you don't want us to overdo it because we've just gotten back together as a team, but considering how much time has passed. I think it would be a waste, given how hard we've been training."

Naruto's mouth dropped, "Sakura…"

Everyone was looking at Sakura, with the same painted expression of shock on their faces. Sakura actually agreed with Naruto. Tsunade appeared just about ready to say something to both of them when the door behind slid open and a women came rushing in, with a piece of paper in hand. She passed the group and stood right in front of Tsunade

"What's all the commotion?" asked Tsunade.

"We received a recent message from the Sand," the women handed the piece of paper over to the fifth Hokage for her to read. As she read, she kept her face clear of any alarm, until she reached near the end, muttering a 'what' and frowning deeply.

"The Hidden village of Sand's Kazekage has been kidnapped by Akatsuki,"

Everyone's postures grew stiff; the current Kazekage at this point in the Sand was none other than, Gaara. The Akatsuki, was a criminal organization, its members were powerful fighters with advance chakra abilities. One of the members happened to be Sasuke Uchiha's older brother; Itachi Uchiha. From what they knew; the Akatsuki were currently hunting people, known to host demons-tailed beasts...

"We have more information pertaining to the Akatsuki than they do. That's why they have requested our assistance," Tsunade began explaining,

Shizune quickly spoke, "Tsunade-sama, don't tell me you plan on sending Team Kakashi!"

"This is an emergency, we don't' have time to be picky. Besides Kakashi, fought against the Akatsuki before."

Sakura looked over to her masked, silver haired teacher. While he may have fought against members of the Akatsuki, that didn't make him an expert. He had fought alongside other experienced jonin and they had still barely managed to survive.

"Team Kakashi, I'm assigning you a new mission. You are to go to the Hidden Village in the Sand, find out more about the situation and send a report back. You will also follow any of their orders and back them up!"

Sakura clenched her fists at her side tightly, glancing at Naruto. She had no doubt that this mission was going to be dangerous.

And she was excited.

* * *

The first mission for the newly formed team Kakashi took an unexpected twist; it was an out of the frying into the fire situation and Naruto did not want to waste any time getting to the Sand. Sakura was a bit concerned, given that the Akatsuki were after the tailed beasts-one of which was sealed inside of Naruto. While the boy had been warned before their departure by Jiraiya not to lose his composure, he had started off leaping through the forest at top speed. His desperation to rescue Gaara driving him; as well as anger towards the Akatsuki-who had attempted to take Naruto a few years ago and obtained the Kyuubi inside of him. Sakura couldn't find reason to tell Naruto to slow down because of this.

However, no one was aware of what Sakura knew about the Akatsuki. All of the things Yunan had heard and seen over this world throughout the years; Sakura knew it all and that included a few things about the Akatsuki. Yunan had completely eradicated her ignorance of her world; showing what lied far beneath the surface and further. It had left her almost completely numb in the beginning, but finally she had gathered enough of herself to face the reality-the disturbing reality that her world had created.

A little ways into their journey, the group ran into Temari who was on her way back to her village Suna. She was making a slow pace unaware of the situation; until Naruto and the other's informed her of her younger brother's kidnaping. They travelled for two days; upon reaching the desert Temari lead them through saving some time.

" _You know my king, if we flew, we'd be there within a day." Gaap stated._

'Yes, but I'd rather not be questioned at a time like this.' Sakura pointed out

* * *

Suna; located in the Land of Wind, was one of the great Shinobi villages. It's terrain of cliffs and rocks that surrounded the village, gave it natural protection from enemy invasions; although it was also a bit of an inconvenience for travelers, including its own ninja as a person needed to cross a desert to get to the village and aside from the scorching heat; there were sand storms that would make you lose your way. To Sakura though; the journey had brought back a nostalgic sense of when she had crossed the deserts so many times over in the other world.

When they finally reached the gates, two sand ninja's escorted them within the village while informing them of the situation on their end. Two members of the Akatsuki came and attacked; after Gaara was taken; his older brother Kankuro chased after them and was badly wounded; it wasn't so much his physical wounds but the fact that he had been poisoned. A new poison without a cure.

Having experience in medical training from Tsunade, as well as her own knowledge gathered from the other world; Sakura offered to take a look at Kankuro. However after entering the hospital and into the treatment room, where Kankuro was being held; they did not receive the welcome they were expecting.

Such as, having an elderly women far passed her prime, attempt an attack on Kakashi (and stopped by Naruto). This was one of the elders of the Sand, Chiyo. She had mistaken Kakashi for 'The White Fang' of Konoha-also known as Kakashi's father. Therefore there was a confusion in resemblance. Chiyo's brother, Ebizo explained that The White Fang of Konoha had died a long time ago. In the past Konoha and Suna weren't exactly on the best terms with each other and there were obviously some lingering threads of that enemy cloth.

After the short episode, Kankuro's chokes of pain on the bed returned everyone back to the situation at hand and Sakura immediately moved to examine him. After telling everyone to step back, Sakura began to look at the brown haired boy lying with bandages wrapped around his torso. Kankuro usually wore purple face pain, but that had been removed long before they arrived.

Sakura leaned over the male, forcefully opening his eyelids, the dark pupils were contracted. She then lifted Kankuro's head, pushed his chin down to open his mouth and shoved two fingers in, disconcerted about the saliva trail on her fingers when she pulled away after one of the Suna medics asked who she was; to which she answered.

"A Konoha medical ninja."

After determining the type poison that was used, such as what it had been refined from and exactly what it was doing to his body-after only placing her ear to Kankuro's chest and listening to a few heartbeats.

Briefing through the medical chart and the poisons composition (with blank spots Sakura filled in), Sakura spoke.

"His heart muscles are being destroyed as we speak, so it could stop functioning anytime now." Sakura said calmly flipping through the chart. "Even if I prepared an antidote, it might not save him in time."

Temari's eyes widened in horror, "No way! Isn't there anything we can do?"

After a short glance at Temari, Sakura looked to the two Sand medics on the other side of the room. Her voice strong with authority. "Please gather the items I tell you to."

Both men straightened their postures, hands on their sides, "Yes, ma'am."

It hadn't taken too long for everything Sakura requested to be gathered and brought to the room. Sakura then proceeded with the treatment. An extraction technique that was considered to be very difficult. Medical ninjutsu was used to draw out the agent and heal the damage within a patient. Using chakra, a large volume of a medicinal fluid is pushed into a person. The fluid then draws the poison out and serves as a medium through which the poison is suspended and then forced out of the person's body. It was a painful procedure though, as everyone soon discovered when Sakura began working on Kankuro.

"Hold him down." Sakura ordered as she held her hand over a bucket of medical fluid, with her chakra coated hand, she drew in the fluid, into a large bubble that stayed intact as she held it in the air, defying gravity as a liquid. When Sakura placed her hand on Kankuro's chest, he immediately reacted, attempting to move away from the source of pain but Sakura told everyone to hold him down. She then pushed the liquid into Kankuro's body and started drawing the poison from the cells. Using her other hand, she drew it out from where there had been an incision made in Kankuro's body. Splotches of purple liquid was no mixed in with the medium. Sakura then dumped it back into the bucket, before demanding the next one to continue with the procedure.

Sakura continued to repeat the treatment, until she looked into the last bucket and saw barely two blotches of the poison swimming around in the agent. She smiled, wiping her forehead to look back at everyone.

"I've removed most of the poison, his life is no longer in danger."

The tension of fear and worry instantly evaporated at the news; although Sakura informed them shortly after that they were not finished yet as she still needed to create an antidote in order remove the trace amounts of poison that were still flowing through Kankuro's system.

" _Why not use me to remove the poison my king?" asked Stolas, somewhat deterred._

'It's better if I make an antidote,' Sakura told her djinn. That way; if anyone aside from Sakura encountered the Akatsuki member who had poisoned Kankuro; then there would be an antidote to his poison. Due to Stolas's metal vessel, Sakura was unaffected by poison in that djinn equip-of course outside of it, she was just as vulnerable.

After giving instruction to a few of the sand medics, Sakura was approached by Chiyo. Now able to take in her features, Sakura saw that she had light purple hair almost turning grey and dark eyes. The first thing she said to Sakura was, "You remind me of the slug-queen."

She knew that it was reference to her teacher, Tsunade. In which Sakura responded politely, informing the old women whose name she learned was Chiyo, that she was in fact Tsunade's student and that they were all here in the Sand on her orders.

While the group remained in Suna for Sakura to make the antidote for Kankuro, orders from Tsunade had arrived via messenger hawk. Where she informed Team Kakashi that she would be sending another team to assist them-Team Gai. Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi were already very familiar with the team-of course their first encounter hadn't been on the best terms.

'Tsunade must be really worried.' Sakura thought after she heard the news.

It took Sakura only a day to make the antidote; while Suna did have medical herbs, because of the environment it was a struggle to produce them but with what Sakura had been provided with, she managed to make three doses of the poisons antidote. She then returned to the medical ward and gave Kankuro the antidote and told him to rest after.

Everyone from Team Kakashi were given their own rooms to rest in for the night before they would depart tomorrow to track the Akatsuki.

* * *

' _You should rest, my king," Beleth's concerned voice rung in her ears._

'I know,' yet she continued to stare blankly at the ceiling, blinking only when her eyes couldn't take the strain anymore. She was in one of the guest rooms, on the bed, contemplating. Then a wave of fatigue seemed to wash over her in an instant, her body became heavy and her eyelids threatened to drop. Sakura winced, covered her eyes with her hand.

This wasn't the first time; she had been getting dizzy spells almost a month after returning to this world and assumed it had something to do with the Looking Glass's magic-perhaps a side effect of sorts because as far as she could tell, she was perfectly healthy.

" _Will you use us?" asked Gaap_

'It's a high possibility.' Sakura replied, then she smirked. 'Are you so eager for a fight?'

" _Of course!" Gaap exclaimed._

" _You've done nothing but train with us; we were bound to get agitated." Added Sitri._

 _Beleth sighed, "The only ones agitated here are the two of you."_

"Well, perhaps tomorrow, you'll get your wish."

They would be going up against the Akatsuki and she could use a trump card or two-or five.

Sakura stared blankly at her palm, holding it out; she could actually see the difference in size now and from when she had grown in that world. She repeated Yunan's words in her head; she would return to the appearance she had when she left her world. She still had her ability to use magoi and she could control it very well, however the Hundred Healing seal had vanished and Sakura was back to storing chakra in a reserve dam.

The first time the seal was released, she had been fighting-in a slave rebellion that she and Sinbad had coaxed. Sakura did not take well to the end result of that battle; even now the thought of those children's deaths, the burning bodies of the guards she had helped kill and the image of the slave boy Kil that Sakura stabbed in the chest were still clear in her mind. Her reaction to it was different-somewhat disturbing. She wasn't drowning in guilt or regret, there was no sadness either. Basically nothing.

Sakura held up the chain around her neck, the two rings shone in contrast to each other with the moonlight. There was the ring she had received from prince Hakuyuu, he told her to give the ring back to him when he became emperor but that wasn't possible anymore and the other ring was from Sinbad, called Tifl Malak (Baby angel). Both rings had something in common; it was a reminder of the last time she had ever seen the men who gave it to her.

" _I don't want a ring from you."_

 _Sinbad didn't flinch at her statement, hearing the pain in her voice when she spoke. "Then don't think of it as a ring, don't think of it as…" Sinbad looked at the box and then back to Sakura. "You don't have to love me; you don't have to come back to me, but if you could wear this-If I know that you were wearing this-then even if you hate me…_

 _Sinbad tilted his head slightly to the side, a tear falling from his right eye and down his cheek that he leaned downward. "We'll be fine…I'll know you're out there."_

 _Rolling her bottom lip, scraping it with her teeth before looking down to the box. Sakura took it, careful not to allow her fingers to graze Sinbad's skin when she did. For a minute, she did nothing but eye the box, before swallowing and then opening it. There she saw it._

 _Contrary to Sinbad's flashy taste in everything, including jewelry, this ring was in short, simplistically beautiful. The casing was black gold, in a knot, with two diamond studs on the either side of a marquise shaped amethyst gem, which was thrice as large as the studs._

 _Sakura picked the ring from its position in the box and rolled it between her fingers, never daring to see how it would fit._

" _Tifl Malak huh?"_

 _Sinbad breathed out a laugh, "It actually means baby angel."_

 _Sakura smiled, looking at Sinbad with a hint of smugness, "You want me to call a ring, baby angel?"_

 _Sinbad didn't blink at what he stated next, smiling with serious eyes. "I want you, to be happy."_

Feeling her throat become dry, Sakura turned on her side, shutting her eyes. 'Dammit, I made my decision. And yet….' Sakura put a hand over her chest, clutching the fabric of her clothing. Memories of Sinbad, seemed to be the ones she just couldn't become numb for.

No matter how much she wanted to.

 **There you have it everyone. That's all for now but keep a sharp eye out. I plan on updating VERY SOON. So for now….**

 **DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW**


	3. The Past: First mission part2

**Hello. Well there's not much for me to say on my part regarding this story; just want to let all my readers know that I am going to have a bit of a binge-update with this story during my break and to keep a look out.**

 **READ AND ENJOY.**

The following morning, Sakura was up early to join Naruto and Kakashi; ready to leave in search of the Akatsuki. Temari and her team were meant to join them, but at the last minute there was a change in plans from their superiors. In case word got out that the village leader was absent, leaving them vulnerable to surprise attacks, Temari and her team were ordered to remain in the village and protect it.

While everyone was protesting that it should be a Sand shinobi that assisted in getting their leader back; Chiyo appeared offering her help instead. There had been a bit of resistance on both ends about this, since the women appeared to be over sixty and was retired but she insisted and won that battle.

* * *

On their way to the Akatsuki's base, they found out that Chiyo was definitely well informed; she explained to them more about the Bijuu or 'tailed beasts'. One had been sealed inside Gaara just as one was sealed inside Naruto. It was what the Akatsuki were after and the reason Gaara was kidnapped.

They were informed that there were in fact nine tailed beast with immense masses of chakra. During The Great Ninja wars, all the nation's hidden villages were after these beasts for their power. The Akatsuki's intentions were to remove the tailed beast's chakra from their hosts and take it for themselves but that was all Chiyo knew. She didn't' know why exactly, the Akatsuki wanted their power.

The situation was not the same for Sakura.

'If only they knew; that there is a lot more to the tailed beasts than that. What it could create…'

Continuing to leap silently through the forest with Naruto, Kakashi and Chiyo. She didn't want to partake in the conversation.

'If we don't get to Gaara before they finish extracting his Bijuu-the he'll-

Sometimes, Sakura honestly wished she could remove what Yunan had showed her.

* * *

A few minutes had passed and the group had reached a clearing in the forest, to a small open field surrounded by trees. Kakashi had to stop them from going any further because of what lied ahead-or rather who. The wind rustled the figure's black cloak, patterned with large red clouds. Through the high collar, long dark hair was visible, unhidden by the bangs were red eyes with black commas, starring directly at the group.

"Itachi Uchiha." Naruto hissed out, glaring at the man.

Sakura stared directly at the man across the field, taking in his features; she didn't even have to glare his features to see how similar his appearance was to Sasuke. This was definitely Sasuke's older brother; the missing ninja who had killed his entire clan….Itachi Uchiha.

"This is him?" asked Chiyo, taking a step forward. "The man who wiped out his entire clan?"

"It's been some time, Kakashi, Naruto." Itachi greeted calmly. Unmoving.

"Bastard!" Naruto screamed, "You're not just after me, but Gaara too!?"

Sakura looked between them. When she looked at Itachi, she could feel herself growing angry and yet she didn't allow herself to show it; for there was also a sliver of what she could only describe as pity for the Uchiha. For no one knew the truth that had died with the third Hokage; the true intentions behind the Uchiha massacre.

'That it wasn't without reason.'

As Itachi's hand began to raise, Kakashi called out in alarm. "Everyone, don't look into his eyes or you're finished!"

According to Kakashi; Itachi's genjutsu were eye techniques. Of course as a Sharingan user that wasn't a surprise. They were going to have to fight him without looking him in his eyes, by attacking him based on the movements of his feet and body-which wasn't as easy as said.

Kakashi stepped forward, lifting his hand to raise his headband over the scared side of his face, with the eye that held the Sharingan. For a moment, they thought he was going to make them all stand back, but that wasn't the case.

"Naruto, I need you to back me up." Kakashi instructed.

Naruto smirked, knowing he didn't need to say anything to Kakashi to let him know he was all for it.

" _And what, our king is meant to sit back and watch?" Sitri asked, venom laced in her tone._

'Relax.' Sakura instructed, feeling her djinns agitation. It wasn't like she made them fully aware of what she was capable of.

Itachi then pointed at Naruto, "It's time for you to come with me, Naruto."

Kakashi went to attack first; but then Naruto followed. His rasengan spinning in the palm of his hand as he ran towards…nothing.

Sakura gasped, "He's under gentjutsu!"

"But how!?" asked Chiyo.

Sakura didn't answer, she ran after Naruto quickly. Pumping chakra to her feet to pick up her speed while Kakashi continued to make his way to Itachi.

"Sakura!" Kakashi exclaimed.

Grabbing the back of Naruto's collar, Sakura pulled the boy back. Setting him to stand up straight, his eyes appeared blank, unblinking and she knew he was still under. Then raising her arm up, she poured chakra into her hand and then slammed it into Naruto's back.

When trapped in genjutsu, the flow of chakra in the brain is controlled. Stopping the flow was a common way to escape, as Sakura was fully aware. Another way to escape it was to rely on someone from outside the illusion, to pour their chakra into you and disrupt the flow.

That's what Sakura did.

She waited patiently; feeling Naruto begin to react and move. He blinked slowly, looking around until he saw Sakura.

Kakashi leapt back, separating from Itachi. He looked over at Naruto and Sakura. "Naruto, are you alright?"

"What…what was I…" The blonde glanced around him confused.

"You were under a genjutsu." Sakura told him, frowning. "I poured my chakra in to you to break you out of it."

'Her reactions are quick.' Chiyo thought, watching the pinkette. She had figured out almost instantly that Naruto had been under a genjutsu and reacted accordingly.

Kakashi was also surprised by the pinkette's quick counter. 'She's really grown.'

Naruto stared blankly back at Itachi, "What happened to his shadow clone?"

"He didn't make any." Sakura stated. Naruto must have thought Itachi summoned one when he was in actual fact, trapped in an illusion.

" _That's interesting, similarly to what I can do.' Stolas said._

Stolas's poison had the ability to disrupt all senses; and warp them to his will. Sakura remember being trapped in his dungeon, a maze that seemed endless, with walls that went on forever.

"Okay, time to get serious." Kakashi said. "Get it together Naruto."

"Come on Naruto, snap out of it." Sakura put her hand on Naruto's cheek softly, he still looked out of it. Whatever he saw in the genjutsu shook him.

After a few seconds, Naruto was able to gather himself. His eyes turning sharp once again. Sakura and Naruto quickly returned to Chiyo's side. Behind Kakashi.

Kakashi moved in again for another attack and Itachi made a few quick hand sides, drew back a breath and then released several balls of flames towards the Leaf jonin. Kakashi dodged them, then jumped into the air, but Itachi was already reeling back and attacking again. Now at Naruto, Sakura and Chiyo who were wide open.

A large ball of flame headed straight for them, but all three managed to jump out of the way in time. As the dust cleared, leaving a hole, the earth scorched, Kakashi stood near. Holding his wrist, as his palm opened, with fragments of lightning swirling around. The Raikiri. Kakashi charged at Itachi, getting him to leap into the air, where Naruto was waiting, ready to attack with his Rasengan.

Sakura felt the ground tremble from the tree she was crouched behind, a gust of wind blew across her with the dirt that had been crushed finely from Naruto's attack.

"Did they get him?" Chiyo asked, sitting behind another tree near Sakura.

Sakura looked back through the grove of trees, when the dust cleared, Sakura could see a huge hold from Naruto's attack and Itachi, standing on the other end of it; unharmed.

'He won't be defeated easily obviously.' Sakura thought.

Naruto was hiding in the forest as well, watching Itachi carefully. What he had hit with his Rasengan turned out to be another clone instead of Itachi, the instant he realized that, he hid.

It was becoming harder to see now; there was a growing mist and for a moment, Sakura thought it was another genjutsu but Chiyo eased her worries by informing her it was merely Kakashi's technique and to stay prepared.

" _Using my metal vessel, you could turn yourself invisible and attack." Gaap chided_

" _Or me, the speed you attain makes you nearly invisible." Sitri interjected._

'Okay, if you two keep edging me on; I'm putting you at the bottom of my bag.' Sakura warned, quickly silencing her djinns.

Kakashi went to confront Itachi head on again; the mist didn't last after Itachi used another fire ball, the blast had completely cleared up the mist. Using the distraction, Kakashi used earth style to leap out of the ground and attack Itachi, but wasn't able to graze him before Itachi caught him. Holding the back of his neck.

Sakura frowned, watching carefully as the two stood still in the distance. 'Something's off.'

What Itachi had actually captured wasn't Kakashi, but a shadow clone. While Itachi was holding onto it, Naruto moved in an attacked using his Rasengan. This Rasengan was different however; bigger. As Naruto and his clone rushed forward, shouting its name, Oodama Rasengan. They made contact with Itachi, creating a huge wave of light, destroying the ground beneath them.

'Wow' Sakura admired, blinking rapidly. She clearly wasn't the only one who had learned a few new skills. Just like her, Naruto had been holding back.

Sakura stood up with Chiyo to go and join Kakashi and Naruto, but something settled over Sakura and she swayed, her vision blurring for a moment before she caught herself against a tree trunk. Breathing softly.

Chiyo looked at the pinkette, "Sakura, are you alright?"

"Yeah…" Sakura replied quickly, forcing herself to stand up straight, shaking her head.

'This sudden fatigue again,' Sakura grimaced, covering her mouth, her stomach churned and her morning breakfast felt like it was ready to come up.

"Excuse me!" Sakura ran further into the forest, until she was a little ways from the others. She wretched, a vile liquid seeped out and onto the forest floor but Sakura couldn't care less, careful not to get her clothes dirty.

" _Are you alright, my king?" Beleth asked in alarm._

" _Are you perhaps ill?" Stolas asked._

"I'm fine." Sakura couched, wiping her mouth with a tissue from her pack. She took her canteen, first using the water to wash out her mouth and the second time to quench her swore throat. She then took some herbs to chew on, removing the smell on her breath.

The pinkette wiped the sweat on her forehead. She couldn't possibly be getting ill now. Sakura decided that she couldn't bother Kakashi with this now; it couldn't be anything serious if it was passing.

"Well, I see you had eggs for breakfast." Chiyou said, casually appearing behind the pinkette.

"Elder Chiyo!" Sakura looked at the women, waiting for an explanation. Smiling, Sakura rubbed the back of her head. "I must be catching a minor bug; I'll have to check it out after the mission."

"Mmm," Chiyo hummed, although something told Sakura that the old women might be thinking differently on her course, but Sakura couldn't rationalize it as anything else. "Are you certain? How does your stomach feel?"

"Honestly kinda bloated." Sakura said putting her hands over her belly, grinning. "I have to admit; I've kinda been packing it away lately….

Chiyo narrowed her eyes, "Like cravings?"

Sakura shrugged, "Guess so."

"Hey Sakura, come over here!" Naruto called interrupting the two women.

Chiyo and Sakura looked down at the Akatsuki member that Naruto had hit with his Oodama Resengan but it wasn't Itachi. This man, lying on the ground, his mouth gaping, blood dripping at the side, it was someone else. A man with dark hair, a goatee and tanned skin.

"What the…?" Naruto trailed.

"This man…" Chiyo said, "Is Yuura. A jonin from my village."

"He's from the Sand?" asked Naruto.

"What does this mean?" Kakashi asked.

"I don't know," Chiyo replied honestly. "But he went missing right before Gaara was kidnapped."

"Could he have been an Akatuski spy?" Sakura asked.

"I don't want to believe that. He served on the council for many years."

If that truly was the case, Sakura considered that it might have been some kind of technique to control a persons will. Her thoughts took her back to the time in Zepar's dungeon where the djinn had possessed Masrur.

In the end, no one was really able to understand the technique. The person they fought wasn't Itachi Uchiha and yet he fought like him. Using the same jutsu that was exclusive to the Uchiha clan.

'Obviously, the Akatsuki are stronger than anyone could interpret.' Sakura thought, clenching her fists tightly. Chiyo did conclude that this was used to buy the Akatsuki some more time. She wrote a message and had a mechanical bird deliver it back to Suna. This delay also had Chiyo come to a startling conclusion, that the Akatsuki were already extracting the Biju from Gaara.

"There's no time. We need to save Gaara right away." Kakashi ordered.

* * *

"You're late Kakashi."

Reaching the Akatsuki's hideout was not as simple as they were expecting; but they reached it. There was a ravine, following along with a red gate in the middle of a cave but the entrance had been shut with a giant boulder. That boulder also had some kind of seal on it.

Team Gai were already waiting for them. Gai, the team leader, was around Kakashi's age and the copy ninja's self-proclaimed rival. He had dark hair, round eyes and extremely thick eye brows. He also wore a tight green, full body suite. The younger members of his team, were a year older than Sakura and Naruto; Neji Hyuga, a young male with long brown hair, tied in a low pony tail with pale lavender eyes-a trait of the Hyuga clan. Then there was the female member Tenten, she had dark brown hair that was always tied in two buns and dark brown eyes; she was a skilled weapons master. Then there was Rock Lee; he had dark hair, cut in a bob, dark eyes and also thick eyebrows-just like his sensei. Lee also had an admiration for Sakura that he had made very clear to her.

"Naruto, Sakura!" Lee greeted the two ninja.

Sakura waved, starring up at the giant rock, she narrowed her eyes. 'This is it huh?'

She could feel her djinns growing excited but she told them to calm down.

'Relax you five, it's almost time.'

* * *

They found that they had to remove a barrier before they could get in. Hence Team Gai and Kakashi had to separate as quickly as they had met up. They had to simultaneously remove the seals of a five seal barrier. A five seal barrier meant that there were literally five different seals in different locations. Thanks to Neji's sharp eyes, his Byakugan; locating the seals weren't a problem. Using wireless microphones, they were able to coordinate their timing perfect and remove the seals thus releasing the barrier. After that; Sakura plunged forward destroying the giant boulder that stood in the way of their goal, turning it into rubble.

'Here we go,' Sakura took a small breath.

The entrance to the cave was now open; Kakashi directed them to move in. When they entered the dimly lit cave they were a bit surprised to see only three figures in the cave. Two Akatsuki members and behind them, a seemingly (hopefully as well) unconscious red-head-Gaara.

Naruto was shaking with anger as he saw one of the Akatsuki, a blonde man casually sitting on Gaara's chest as if he were nothing more than a piece of furniture. Next to him was another figure, he appeared to be crouching by the way his back arched it would make you wonder if he was kneeling under the cloak, half his face was covered by a piece of cloth.

"Now, I wonder which one is the Jinchuuriki?" the blonde Akatsuki said looking at the group, completely at ease.

Naruto was seething, his eyes turned red and into slits; "YOU BASTARDS, I'M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU."

Sakura bit her lip, she knew that Naruto was a passionate person but if he lost his composure; there was no telling what reckless thing he might do. Naruto continued to rave on; it was easier for the Akatsuki to figure out who was the Jinchuuriki then.

"Gaara!" Naruto called to him, but he would not wake, no matter how loud Naruto cried out to him.

'Don't tell me…' Sakura dreaded, he's already-no, she refused to go there. Not until she confirmed herself, rather than let her enemies bait her into a fit and cause her to recklessly attack. Although if that was their plan; it was working wonders on Naruto.

The two Akatsuki then started to converse, their names revealed then as it came up. The one with the blonde hair in a high pony tail was called Deidara and the other Sasori—also Chiyo's grandson. They were discussing their battle arrangements.

" _They don't seem too concerned with us, my king," Beleth noted_

" _Let's send a tornado there way." Sitri suggested_

'Calm down,' Sakura told them, never taking her eyes off the two figures in front of her. 'Rushing into a fight might be exactly what they want.'

Deidara summoned forth a big, bird-like creature made of what appeared to be clay. It grabbed Gaara in its mouth and Deidara took after it; baiting Naruto-who in his state of anger followed.

"Naruto!" Kakashi called after him, but he refused to even glance back. "Naruto and I will take care of the guy outside. Sakura and Chiyo-baasama, I'll leave this guy to you."

Sakura and Chiyo turned back to face the single remaining Akatsuki member now; Sasori. Looking straight into his 'eyes' Sakura could tell that this man; he had a vast amount of combat experience behind him. Then there was the number of people he had killed to consider.

" _I will not allow all those children's deaths….." Sakura gritted out, her steps moving close towards the pair, the weapons held in an airtight grip, her right foot sliding behind her before kicking off to speed forward, charging at Madaura. "TO BE IN VAIN."_

 _The strike was swift, the blade moved so fast it was hard to identify the sharp end of it, barely half a second it had embedded itself in flesh, the sticky warmth covered Sakura's hands but it was not the blood of the person she wanted._

" _Lady Madaura…..you….have to get...-away."_

" _Kil…." Madaura trailed, watching as the last slave still loyal to her, the only one she could have still used was now on the ground, drowning in a puddle of his own blood, eyes already dimmed, lifeless._

 _Sakura-now awakened from her state of passive hysteria, stared down at Kil, the resolve to kill dissipated before it grew once again, her eyes looked back to Madaura; who was futility attempting to bring the child back to life. Sakura's hands began shaking, she had actually killed someone. It was a bitter settling. She had actually intentionally killed someone, even if the intended person was not the one who was killed, Sakura herself had still intended to kill someone-and she still did._

" _At least you won't be a slave anymore."_

Sakura shook at the very memory, but it broke her out of her state of self-doubt. How many people this person killed didn't matter.

'At the end, taking a life is easier than saving it.' Sakura reminded herself.

"Don't be afraid Sakura," Chiyo said stepping forward, mistaking the girls trembling for fear. "I will fight him."

"No it's not-

Chiyo reached into the long sleeves of her dress, pulling her hands out she held several shurikan knives all attacked together with a string of chakra. She aimed them at Sasori; but they were all deflected by his strange wooden scorpion like tail.

"If you're going to oppose me, I have no choice."

The black cloak with red clouds that Sasori wore, began to tear and fall apart, revealing the rest of his body. Sakura knew straight away that was she was looking at was not human. Crouched down on his hands and knees, position much like a table, on top his back, an orange mask-like structure with the tail coming from its open mouth.

"That's not his actual form is it," Sakura stated more than asked, completely composed, it was odd in all honesty. For her, she had always doubted her own strength and tended to be a bit rushed in her battles in hopes of ending it; but compared to the battles she had faced before and the monsters in the dungeons, even her battle with other djinn users. They had given her new heights of tension and fear. Stresses and situations she never dreamed of enduing; but because of those, she was finding it difficult to compare the thrills.

'Still,' her eyes hardened, 'That doesn't mean I should let my guard down.'

"Yes, that is actually a puppet." Explained Chiyo,

"Wouldn't that mean his real body is somewhere near?" Sakura asked, placing her hand on her hip. "I remember in the chunin exams, Kakurou fought with a puppet, disguising it as himself while he hid on its back."

"Yes, the real bodies inside of the puppet." Chiyo confirmed, though she was admittedly somewhat impressed by the pinkettes quick analysis.

Chiyo then continued to tell Sakura about puppet masters, how they were actually weak when it came to close range combat and that the puppet was actually the way around that. It was their armor and weapon. She also identified the puppet before them as Sasori's 18th puppet Hiruko.

"So you recognize this puppet, Grandma Chiyo?" asked Sakura

She nodded, "Yes, very well."

Sasori then spoke, his wooden tail swinging around tauntingly. "Do you know how I add you to my collection? First I tear out your organs. Once I've washed it clean, I drain all of the blood. After I've made sure it won't decay-

Sakura scoffed, interrupting Sasori's speech. "I'm sorry; but I have no intention of becoming a puppet. So I don't need the details."

Chiyo's eyes widened, she glanced back at the pinkette, watching how calm she was. It was a bit unnerving given the circumstances.

"What was that you brat?" Sasori asked, clearly not appreciating the interruption.

"I don't think I need to repeat myself," Sakura said crossing her arms over her chest. "If you have a point, get to it."

The puppet Hiruko's eyes visibly narrowed at the pinkette. "You-I'll definitely add you to my collection and I'll make sure you're alive for most of the process so you can suffer."

Sakura simply stared at him, an unchanging expression on her face.

"Sakura, what are you doing?"

"Grandma Chiyo; could you tell me everything you know about this puppet as quickly as possible?" Sakura asked the women.

Chiyo wanted to protest, tell the girl to show a bit of restraint with her tongue. Sakura didn't strike her as the kind of person to shoot off her mouth. Yet, this young girl he a strong stance in front of an Akatsuki.

"Hiruko is a battle-type puppet, regardless of that we need to separate it from Sasori. His additions to the puppets are the most dangerous of all."

Sakura nodded in understanding, "So we can't know how exactly he will attack; but you know how that puppet works."

"Yes; it was initially why I wanted to fight him alone at first; but now I don't think it will work."

"Why's that?" Sakura asked in a murmured tone, never taking her eyes off of Sasori's puppet.

"It's form is a bit different from the Hiruko I knew."

Chiyo began pointing out the different features she had not seen on the puppet before; that included the shell on his back that appeared to increase his defensive skills and then there was the matter of his left arm that had changed as well. She also pointed, that Sasori might have changed the most important weapons as well.

"In order to defeat Sasori, we must destroy Haruko first."

Sakura caught on quickly enough, before Chiyo was able to explain her plan she had put everything together.

"So, I'll use my strength to destroy it."

"Yes," Chiyou glanced behind her, at the rubble that remained from the boulder the young girl bashed in. "Listen Sakura; first you'll get close to Sasori and smash his puppet. But you must doge all of his attacks. You can't even let them scratch you."

Sakura nodded her head; she knew if she got hit with one of Sasori's weaposn there was a high probability of her being poisoned. Just as Kankurou was. "I can manage that,"

'It's like I'm back in your dungeon, Stolas.' Sakura thought humorlessly.

"In order to avoid puppet traps, you must understand the battle style of puppeteers. Consider the full capabilities of the enemy puppet and make quick judgments about how to move."

Sakura thought back to the djinn Zepar; that was as close to a puppeteer as she could get and she knew that the concepts were different. Zepar needed less effort to control his puppets.

"If that's the case, I might not fare well."

If she didn't have five djinns beside her; however she wanted to see what Chiyo had planned for her if she knew that it would be basically impossible for Sakura to do what is required to destroy the puppet. It was then the women explained that she would take care of it, adding that Sasori's advantage wasn't actually in experience. Chiyo then whispered to Sakura something so Sasori would not hear.

After, they got into position. Waiting only a few seconds before charging forward together towards Haruko. The puppet then remove the clothing covering its mouth; opening mechanically hundreds of needles shot out from its mouth. Up, down, left, right, Sakura and Chiyo avoided them from every direction they were thrown, moving swiftly; using shurikan to knock the needles out of the way if they weren't able to doge.

" _Is it just me or does out king seem to be enjoying herself?" asked Gaap_

" _Oh, you noticed that too?" asked Sitri, "I can hear her heart from my vessel."_

'You know I can hear you!' Sakura inwardly snapped at her djinn's as she kept maneuvering out of the way of the needles, but the closer they got the faster the needles would reach them. It was a matter of making one misstep for it all to be over. However; Sasori stopped his assault; be it he was out of senbon or not; he had stopped.

'Now if only I was actually moving my body,' Sakura thought in a bitter sweet tone.

Sakura narrowed her eyes, trying to decipher what he would do next.

"You saw through it; alright." Sasori said, his voice gruff.

Then from the side of the puppet, they saw the arm that Chiyo had mentioned. It separated from the puppet, flying across the room, releasing a thin gas before the wooden pikes that were attached to the arm were suddenly free from their placing; breaking open to reveal more needles.

Sakura kept her eyes open as she shifted appropriately to avoid the attack; or rather it was Chiyo that was moving her so fluently. When the rain of needles finally stopped, Chiyo stood back while Sakura charged forward. It was only then that Sasori realized as well what was going on. When Sasori swept his tail at Sakura, the pointed tip was only a mere inch away from the center of her eyes but it stopped. Then Sakura drew back her arm and then punched his puppet; successfully shattering it to many disassembled pieces.

In that instant, Sakura saw something move away from the puppets body, but it was wrapped in torn cloth; landing a little ways from where she was. The head of Haruko's puppet however, moved and that distracted her momentarily; it turned to at Sakura, shooting out more hundreds of needles. Chiyo quickly moved her arms, directing Sakura to safety, without a single scratch on her.

"As I thought," said Sasori, "Just what I'd expect from my Grandma. No wonder the girl dodged my attacks so easily. She had you, who could see through the controlling her with chakra strings."

It was true, Sakura could feel the strings attached to her back like a puppets. She honestly found it a bit discomforting.

" _My king, you could use us." Beleth reminded her_

'I know Beleth,' Sakura responded; but she wanted to hold off on using her djinn just yet. These beings didn't exist in this world and the last thing Sakura wanted was to reveal them before she got her story straight-and that meant a really convincing lie because she was not about to mention travelling into another world and being trapped there for years. She wasn't going to be stupid either though; if things went too far, she wouldn't hold back anymore.

Sasori and Chiyo conversed for a few minutes, Sasori identifying everything that had been planned out by Chiyo. Putting Chakra strings not only on Sakura to control her movements but also on his puppets tail to stop it from hitting her. After, Sasori removed the cloth covering his form. He stood straight; a young man in appearance, with short red hair.

"W-What's the meaning of this?" Chiyo asked, sounding like she was choking, "You haven't aged a day,"

From what Sakura heard, Sasori had left the village twenty years ago; so he shouldn't appear like this but then her mind started going through all of the possibilities. Tsunade was able to maintain a youthful appearance; then there was the fact that Sasori was a master of puppetry and turned humans into-

"Crap." Sakura muttered under her breath as she put it together. "You're not human anymore are you?"

Sasori had a calm smile on his face, "Aren't you a clever little girl?"

He then raised his arm, revealing a scroll from under his sleeve, he began to roll it out; on it written in ink was three. "This might be even more shocking. He was one of the hardest to kill and add to my collection."

There was a puff of smoke, the scroll vanished and in its place, when the air began to clear was yet another puppet. Chiyo appeared even more surprised at the sight before her.

"That's the third Kazekage!" she exclaimed,

Sakura saw a dark haired puppet, wearing a large brown coat; it was shifting along with Sasori's movements. He had lowered himself towards the ground, with the puppet diagonal to him.

"That puppet?" Sakura asked, in disbelief. That was actually a former leader of the sand village?

"It happened twenty years ago," Chiyo began "The third Kazekage vanished, we were never able to find him. Sasori, you did it?"

"So what?" Sasori asked, with no care in his voice or concern. "You're telling me an old hag like you is going to avenge him? How admirable."

"Even so, I cannot forget the past." Chiyo stated, frowning at her grandson. "You attacked three Kazekage!"

From what Sakura could remember; it had been Orochimaru who killed the Fourth Kazekage and took his place at the chunin exams in order to infiltrate the Leaf village; that had started a battle between the two allied villages. Chiyo said that it was Sasori's companions behind it, however Sasori protested, saying that he had nothing to do with that, though he did admit to one thing.

"It's true that Orochimaru was my original partner in the Akatsuki."

Sakura felt her skin crawl at the mention of that man; he was the one who had set the path of darkness for Sasuke; tempting him to taking it. However, now what seemed to be a battle for survival; Sakura saw as opportunity.

"If you were Orochimaru's partner, then you must know a lot about him," her voice was strong when she spoke. Narrowing her eyes, Sakura glared at the Akatsuki member "I have a lot of questions for you."

Determination to subdue the puppet master had washed over Sakura, like a tidal wave and she wasn't going to be able to bring herself up for air.

"Sorry kid. I have to finish you two off and catch that Jinchuuriki. I hate to keep people waiting."

Clenching her fists, shifting her stance to better control her center of gravity, she gave Sasori a dark expression. "We'll see about that!"

Pushing on the back of her foot, Sakura launched herself towards Sasori. In response, Sasori maneuvered his puppet to intercept the pinkette. Chiyo had been stunned when Sakura charged forward in such a reckless fashion, but before the two were able to engage, Chiyo yanked the puppet strings attached to Sakura, in order to bring her back. Though from the third's puppet, emerged several blades out of its sleeve, blades that were coated in poison. Luckily, Chiyo was able to use Hiruko's tail to block the attack, even though it did destroy it. That just showed how powerful this puppet was.

" _You know, I'd be tired of getting yanked around like that." Gaap said, "Come my king, let us join."_

'Wait,' Sakura told him, 'This fight has only begun, be patient.'

Her djinns weren't the only ones who were anxious; Sakura herself wanted to jump right into a full on battle but something told her that the time wasn't right.

'Soon,' she promised

"Nice one Grandma Chiyo, but how about this?" With a flick of his wrist; the left arm on the puppet moved to the front of its body; the wooden limb then began to open, the parts had something written on them. They lit with chakra, activating and from them; several hundreds of more hands and arms appeared, reaching out towards Sakura.

" _MY KING!" her djinns called out in alarm._

Sakura kept her eyes open as they arms reached for her, on impact they created a huge cloud of dust from the crushed earth; when it cleared Sasori was surprised to see that the girl was still in one peace. She was lying on the floor, her body lying awkwardly on the ground, avoiding the limbs.

'This is getting ridiculous,' Sakura thought as she stood up. Chiyo then pulled her to the back, lifting her into the air. However as she was, something came from one of the arms, a cloud of purple emerged.

"Hold your breath Sakura!"

'Poison?' She wondered, taking breath before covering her mouth. She felt her body come to an abrupt halt. From the other arms, shot out four kunai tied with ropes. It wrapped around the pinkette's legs, arms and chest. Now she was being held in mid-air by both strings.

"SAKURA" Chiyo cried out in alarm.

It was then, Sakura felt her body being pulled on Sasori's end, drawing her towards the poison. He was clearly determined to keep her there until she finally breathed in. The ropes were getting tighter as she felt herself enduring this tug of war.

" _I'm sorry Naruto, you might have to wait for me a little while but next time-I promise I won't be dead weight."_

" _What I want," Sakura removed her hands, looking straight into Sinbad's eyes. "All I want is freedom."_

" _Freedom…?" Sinbad shrugged, with a confused and partially hostile expression._

" _From you." Sakura clarified, her voice strengthening and held together with pain. "From the promise I forced on Naruto, from Sasuke, from everything. I don't want to be tied to anyone anymore. I don't want to be the one walking the path of someone else's destiny all the time. I want the freedom to have my own path. I want to take on my own path."_

In a hoarse voice, to keep herself from breathing in the gas, Sakura gasped out. "Sitri!"

In the enclosed cave, a whirlwind appeared right in the center of the cloud of poisonous gas, it was visible in white doing more than fluttering fabric on the washing line around; it was so powerful that it dissipated it completely. Leaving the pinkette completely unharmed. Opening her eyes, Sakura glared at Sasori as he continued to keep his grip on her with his ropes.

"What?" Sasori looked at her.

"Sakura; how?" Chiyo gasped

"Surprise!" She said, expanding her arms the ropes around Sakura strained before snapping. Chiyo then pulled her back to her side quickly before Sasori could counter.

'Thanks Sitri,' Sakura smiled as she pushed herself up from the ground.

"Sakura, are you alright?" Chiyo asked examining the girl, despite that there were no signs of injuries on her. "What was that?"

Sakura smirked, "Puppets aren't the only ones-that can be improved."

Then she turned, giving another deadly glare at Sasori, "You-I' definitely going to capture you! So go ahead, try to poison me, cut off my limbs. In the end; I will get you and you will tell me about Orochimaru!"

Without a verbal response, Sasori brought his hand up, shifting his fingers. In that instant, kunai from the puppet's arms shot out, aiming directly for Sakura.

She was about to counter with Sitri, but then two figures appeared in front of her, deflecting the blades, knocking them to the ground. On either side of Sakura, there were two more puppets that appeared. A man with red hair and a women with long brown hair.

Glancing back, she looked at Chiyo who was holding her arms out, holding two scrolls in her hands; at her fingertips were visible chakra strings.

"Oh those." Sasori said in a bored tone, addressing the puppets.

"So you remember them?"

"More or less."

"The very first puppets you created." Chiyo said, bringing the heads of the puppets to look up, one after the other as she addressed their names. "Father and mother."

Just by looking at the father puppet; Sakura knew that these were supposedly Sasori's 'parents'. Sasori pointed out that it was stupid move to bring out puppets that he had created into a battle against him because he would know all of their moves.

The puppets then moved, stretching out their arms towards one another, their hands touched and then pulled back revealing wires attached to both hands. Chiyo then sent the puppets into battle. The wires were strong; strong enough to cut through the hundreds of arms from the Third Kazekage's puppet. Before reaching the third puppet, Sasori detached the arm from it and revealed yet another weapon beneath its sleeve. However; the two puppets that Chiyo was using also came with some tricks. The Father, had a wooden whip with blades attached to it and Mother a sword.

Sakura watched the battle between puppeteers, their puppets were clashing with one another and they were moving their hands at incredible speeds; their movements were blurred.

'That's amazing,' Sakura thought

" _Forget that, when are we going to get our turn!?" Gaap complained_

When the puppets withdrew, it was clear to see that every single one of their weapons had been completely worn out. Grinded to a blunt edge.

Then the puppet of Sasori opened its mouth and from previous experience, Sakura knew that was not a good sign. Something grey began to seep out of its mouth, gathering in the air.

"What is that?" she asked

"The most feared weapon in history of the Hidden Sand." Chiyo said leaning forward slightly, "Iron Sand! It's a technique that the Third created himself. He could mold the Iron Sand into various forms, changing it into weapons appropriate to the situation. The Third Kazekage had a unique body; that allowed him to change his chakra into a magnetic field."

"So even though it's just a puppet now, he had still use that technique?" Sakura asked, narrowing her eyes at the puppet as more sand continued to gather.

"Human puppets are different from puppets made of wood like Mother and Father." Chiyo told her, "Sasori is the only one who can make them; they are made to retain chakra they had when they were alive as well as the techniques they had when they were still alive."

Sasori smirked, "That's not all. After all, they are a part of my beloved collection."

Chiyo's brow creased, "Sakura, you need to get out of here."

Sakura gasped softly; turning to Chiyou. "What-

"You don't stand a chance against something like that," the old women said, flexing her fingers.

Again before Sakura could protest, Sasori launched his attack. The Iron Sand shifted in the air, into smaller parts before shooting straight at the women at a blinding speed. Chiyo had the Mother puppet grab Sakura and move her out of the way while using the Father puppet to protect her own body. It had created what was known as a chakra shield; however Sakura caught sight of Chiyo panting heavily. She was clearly beginning to reach her limit.

'And what have I been doing by far?' Sakura thought to herself in anger.

Chiyo attempted to move the puppet, but found that both had become immobile. Sasori then pointed that the Iron Sand had gotten into their bodies, so they would no longer be able to move.

"You know you have to doge that technique, not block it." Sasori said, "Was saving that girl all you could manage? As long as I have the Third's magnetic powers, I can render all your puppets useless."

'That's it!' Sakura gasped in realization. She glanced up at the puppet.

Sasori let out a small scoff, flexing his fingertips; the iron sand that had been lodged in the ground began to surface once again. "I'm going to finish off the both of you. You won't escape this time."

Looking up, the Iron Sand began to harden again, it shifted into iron spikes, both hanging directly above Sakura and Chiyo.

"One puppet can't protect two people." With that, Sasori brought his hand down, the iron sand fell down on them. When the Iron Sand shot down in its vorpal form, creating a huge cloud of dust, Sasori was certain that one of the two had to have gotten hit. However when the dust cleared, Sakura was completely safe, behind the Mother puppet that held up a chakra shield and Chiyo. She had one of her arms held out, spread in four parts of wood; a chakra shield up.

'So elder Chiyo's arm is also like a puppets,' Sakura thought; that's how she was able to save herself; however the iron sand had also gotten into her arm now and she wasn't able to control it anymore.

Then Sasori made a comment that helped Sakura piece everything together; "Great puppet masters think alike I suppose."

It was then, that Sakura realized what Sasori was hinting at; why his appearance hadn't changed. He wasn't human anymore. Because of that last attack, the second puppet was also out of commission having been hit with the Iron sand.

"You're out of puppets," Sasori observed, "What are you going to do now Grandma Chiyo? Even an elite puppet master without puppets is a regular person."

Glancing futilely at her puppets, Chiyo detached her now useless puppet arm. The Third's puppet opened its mouth again; releasing even more of the iron sand. This time it only took on four forms; two hardened into wing-like structures on the back of the puppet, while the other two took the shape of a pyramid and rectangle but they were large in size.

"Sakura, you have to run." Chiyo said to the pinkette once again; but the pinkette showed no sign of acknowledging the women as she continued to stare at the puppet. Her eyes were shining strongly that Chiyo was taken aback. "Sakura, what is it? I already told you, you can't fight him!"

Slowly, Sakura began to walk to Chiyo. Her stride was as determined as the fiery look in her eyes. She didn't stop until she was standing right in front of the old women. Sasori watched; somewhat curious about what the pink haired kunoichi was thinking. So far, it had been his grandmother that had managed to keep him at bay; but without her puppets she was useless.

'What could this little girl be thinking?'

"Elder Chiyo, you're right." Sakura said seriously; her voice deadly calm. "Without experience, I wouldn't be able to defeat Sasori with just my strength. However;" clenching her fists, "I do have some alternative options."

Chiyo's eyes widened, she held out her hand towards the pinkette "Sakura stop."

Pulling on the ends of her gloves, her head bowed. "I'll take care of that puppet for you elder Chiyo. Don't worry."

"No" Chiyo protested, "You'll only get yourself killed."

Turning around, Chiyo held her breath when she saw the pinkette look at her; with a smile spread across her face. She didn't say anything and yet; it was her facial expression that shocked the women into silence.

'Those eyes,' Chiyo thought; there was no innocent shine in them that children her age usually had; it had lost that glow and showed a kind of strength that came with experience. In complete contradiction to Sakura's physical form.

'They do not suit her.'

Sakura turned back to face Sasori; her eyes as hard as her will.

'The dungeons I've captured, the monsters I've conquered, the new skills I have obtained; I will not allow them to die here.' Sakura told herself, 'I do not need to be controlled like a puppet to make the right decision in battle-not anymore!'

Sakura sprang into a run; heading right for Sasori; the iron sand in the shape of a pyramid came directly for her. Pushing back on her feet, Sakura avoided the collision, her feet skidding across the ground before she stopped to determine what Sasori would do next. Then she saw the rectangle sand heading for her from above; she drew chakra to her fist quickly before jumping up to meet it; her fist collided with the object; sending it crashing into the ceiling of the cave; it began to crumble.

"Bitch."

Sasori began fiddling his fingers, the iron sand began to move out of its positions on the walls; floating beside his puppet. Clenching his fist, Sasori watched as the pyramid began to spin wildly resembling a top; then drawing back his hand he watched as it spun towards the pinkette.

When it hit the ground; Sakura jumped into the air to avoid the weapon that came spinning wildly at her. When her feet landed on the ground she jumped again; avoiding the other form of iron sand. Then it was back to the iron top. Her eyes followed its every move. It chased Sakura around the cave, until finally she was able to get the upper hand by pushing off against the iron sand that was still in the ground; she drew back her fist and punched the iron pyramid with her chakra coated fist.

'This won't do any good for me if I keep this pace.' She knew that simply ducking the weapons and punching them wasn't going to do anything but exhaust her chakra sooner. She had also picked up on Sasori's attack pattern; not just from watching the weapons, but catching glances of the way his fingers moved to control his puppet. She was anticipating most of the attacks basing on the hand movements and the area they were in; it wasn't accurate but it was enough to keep her from getting hit.

Sakura then halted in the center of the cave; between Chiyo and Sasori.

"SAKURA" Chiyo cried out in alarm, the girl had been moving so well; why did she stop?

"This is it!" Sasori said bringing his hands out and crossing them over.

'Looks like you're up,' Sakura held out her hand as she jumped back, looking at the two weapons that were now coming at her simultaneously. She held out her arms in the direction of each Iron sand object.

"Beleth." She felt that familiar surge of energy coursing through her arms as they shifted; her fingers became claws, silver armor wrapped around her arm till her elbow. Then, hot, dark flames emerged from both hands; striking the iron sand. The heat was so great that the iron began to melt.

"What?" Sasori looked in disbelief as the melting sand iron was sent flying straight through the ceiling of the cave on both ends. The entire structure had taken too much damage to maintain itself and started collapsing from above.

A cool breeze and warmth of the sun hit Sakura's skin. She looked around to find Chiyo; she was standing amongst the rubble, completely unharmed. Sakura admitted to being a bit reckless in her attack but at least she had taken care of the iron sand-well most of it anyway. Drawing back his puppet's weapons, Sasori saw that Sakura had inflicted quite a bit of damage; the iron sand had been welded together and could no longer be manipulated to take any other shape. He then flicked his fingers to cut off the parts that had been heated; leaving him with a much smaller amount of sand.

'What was that attack?' he wondered.

Flexing her claws, Sakura stared at her hand, "Seems I haven't lost my touch."

Chiyo stared at the pinkette, in all her years as a kunoichi; she had never come across an attack like that. It was one thing for her to have that impressive strength and healing abilities and then there was this. Just how skilled was the child?

"That's a lot of power for a little girl." Sasori said positioning his puppet and its weapons above him.

Sakura took a breath, looking up at him "I'll take that as a compliment,"

"What was that attack earlier?" he asked,

Holding out her hand to show off her claws Sakura smirked "This? It's just a demonstration of far worse to come."

"Don't get cocky." Sasori threw out his arms, the remaining sand iron then started to mold together, from the puppets chest came a wave of chakra, "Satetsu Kaihou."

Sakura watched as the iron sand began to spread, it appeared to be making a giant net or web; with many branches like a tree, they were all with sharp ends. Sakura kept her eyes wide open as the dozens of spikes started coming at her from all directions.

The impact was so great, that it had caused some of the rubble to fly around and Chiyo ended up with her real arm getting caught under a rock; stopping her movement; although she was more worried about Sakura that had been caught in the mix. She could see the pinkette, still standing; but she appeared scratched around her body.

"Sakura; are you okay?" Chiyo called out in alar.

The pinkette dropped to the ground; flat on her face. Sasori smirked "That's it for you."

"So you poisoned the Iron Sand too!?" exclaimed Chiyo.

"Soon, her body will go numb and she won't be able to move. She'd last three days if I let her be, but I don't plan to!" Sasori sent his puppet after Sakura; a blade appeared beneath its sleeve, reading to strike the pinkette down for good.

As the puppet neared its target and Chiyou called out Sakura's name; the girl was already up; her arm held out and her fist clenched with her half djinn equip on her body; colliding with the puppet and shattering it to pieces. Beleth wasn't known as the djinn of strength and discord for nothing after all. The instant the puppet was destroyed, the cage of Iron sand began to soften and fall. Allowing Sakura to leap out and beside Chiyo.

"Are you alright Elder Chiyo?" Sakura asked, lifting up the rock that had been caught on the old women's arm. She then placed her now normal hand over her arm and started to heal her. Meanwhile, Sasori was attempting to figure out how she was still able to move after getting struck by his poison iron sand?

"Sakura, how-

"I used an antidote; the one I made for Kankurou. There was enough to make three viles." Sakura explained, digging into her pocket with her free hand and showing Chiyo the yellow liquid inside a syringe.

"I see." Chiyo said impressed.

"It will only work for three minutes, breaking down the poison into harmless proteins. It doesn't matter how much of it gets into the system during that time or before." Sakura explained, holding out the syringe. "You should keep this."

"So, for the next three minutes, his poison won't affect you?" asked Chiyo

Sakura nodded, "Yes; and in that time I will definitely defeat him."

That definitive tone was something Chiyo found a little frightening; this girl didn't seem to have any limits. When Sakura was finished with Chiyo's hand, she tilted to the side, nearly falling before catcing herself, panting softly.

"Again?" Sakura winced, holding a hand over her mouth. She knew it wasn't because she was poisoned.

"What's wrong?" Chiyo asked.

"This…I don't know." Sakura replied honestly, breathing in deeply in attempt to relieve the nausea. "This isn't the antidote's doing. I feel like I'm getting another wave of sickness like earlier."

Thankfully, this one seemed short lived because Sakura instantly felt better and stood up. "Better finish this quickly before I throw up again."

Chiyou frowned, there was something about these symptoms of Sakura's. The sudden fatigue, sickness, and then…

" _I am kinda bloated."_

"Sakura," Chiyo said standing up suddenly. "Let me help you with this-

"It's alright," Sakura said interrupting her, smiling "I know that this might be something personal for you."

"That's not the problem-

"But at the same time, I don't want to accidently end up getting you caught in the crossfire if I go all out."

Chiyo stopped. She hadn't gone all out yet? How was that even possible? What else could she possibly have to hide?

Aside from what Chiyo was dreading to confirm.

'What a frightening child,' thought Chiyo. 'In all my lifetime; I have never come across anyone like her. Not even Tsunade can compare.'

Sakura looked at Sasori again, her head titled to side with her eyes narrowed dangerously; "Well how about it?"

Sasori gave Sakura a glare, his hand reaching out towards his Akatsuki cloak, "I'll acknowledge you. To destroy the Third Kazekage is no easy feat."

He unbuttoned his cloak and from underneath, revealing what was now his true form. His entire upper body made of wood, the joins were visible on his arms and from them several blades contracted, in his stomach-or what use to be; was a thick silver rope coated with poison and a sharp pointed bladed tip at the end, in his chest where his heart was meant to reside, was a circular object with 'Sasori' written in red.

As he lifted himself up from the coiled wire in his stomach; he spoke "It's been a while since I've used myself."

"So he turned himself into a human puppet." Sakura said staring at him a little awestruck herself.

"Aren't you going to attack?" Sasori asked, "You have a little over two minutes before that antidote wears off."

Sakura scoffed softly; though her eyes said she was deadly serious still; despite her mouthing off she had not taken the battle likely. She had not let her guard down once.

Sasori drew out his hands "If you aren't going to finish this…." Two pipes appeared in the palm of his hands; spitting out fire towards the two women. "I'll make the first move!"

"And I'll make the finishing!" Sakura exclaimed.

Then holding out both of her hands, Sakura transformed her hands into her claws again, to unleash the dark flames. Spouting from her hands, they hit Sasori's own flames with the same amount of intensity. Both continued to hold out against each other. Beleth's flames were far stronger; it became obvious when it started to push back Sasori's own attack until it was only the dark flames that remained. Sasori leaped to the back when he saw them coming straight for him.

The pinkette lowered her arms when she saw Sasori draw back. "What's the matter? Afraid I'll burn you puppet body into ash?"

Sasori glared hatefully at the pinkette; at first she was nothing more than an attachment to the opponent he really wanted to face-his grandmother. But she was proving to be far more of a hassle than he accounted for.

"Try this then!" Sasori said, holding out his hands again and Sakura expected the same old flames but instead what came out was water! It shot towards Sakura with enough pressure to break through the rubble. She had to avoid the attack along with Chiyo who was still in Sasori's sights.

"If that's how you want to play it!" Sakura continued to circle around Sasori to avoid the water attack while she reached for her waist where her dagger lied. She drew it from its sheath and held it up.

"Gaap!"

The dagger wrapped itself around water, expanding before taking on the appearance of a spear, it was a combination of sea blue and purple, the blade came in an unusual pattering, beginning as a diamond and following with two razor sharp ends on either side that reminded her a bit of the pattern of a fishes fin only shaper with ribbons at the end of the last points and further down was another sharp end.

With her water djinn's ability, Sakura held out the spear towards Sasori as his painfully quick and sharp water projectiles were coming towards her. The water didn't hit Sakura, instead gathered towards the spear.

"What!" Sasori exclaimed, pulling away the hand that was following Chiyo's movements to direct it at Sakura. All the while, wondering when this ended? First it was flames and now water?

'What the hell is this girl!?' Sasori thought as he continued to shoot his water at her, but all that happened was the water began to gather; then it started to slowly shift and take shape.

Sasori stared with wide eyes as a shadow swallowed him. Sakura was holding up her spear and above that spear, tipped from the tail, leading straight up. Was a massive water dragon-unlike like a regular water dragon, many times its size.

'She took all my water and formed that!'

"Take this!" Sakura said swinging her spear in the air, the water came down towards Sasori at once, disrupting his attack and causing him to move out of the way to avoid getting him. But the water continued to follow him as Sakura directed it.

'How is she doing this?' Sasori asked himself as he continued to duck and dodge out of the way of the water. She had managed to make them strong enough to cut through wrong and the way she was controlling them to follow him was no technique he was familiar with. The water dragon had opened its mouth wide, mimicking a roar without sound before water spouted from its mouth and hit Sasori. The intensity of the blast sent his body flying into the caves wall. He was sent crashing straight into it, creating a pile of rubble as he fell along with it.

Sakura watched as Sasori stood up, there was obviously not going to be any injuries on him and it didn't look like he was going to have to worry about fatigue either-unlike her. This was where the danger lied. She would get tired and he wouldn't. A moment's hesitance was all he needed for an opening.

'Of course, I won't give him one.'

Sasori started snickering as the rocks fell behind him; he threw his head back. "Marvelous; you're better than I would have expected. I cannot wait to add you to my collection!"

With a malicious grin on his face, Sasori threw his head back while launching the coiled wire from his stomach; it circled towards Sakura.

"DON'T LET IT HIT YOUR STOMACH!" Chiyo screamed.

She countered in time, with a flick of her wrist holding Gaap's metal vessel, she formed a water whip and used it to throw the weapon off course. But Sasori wasn't finished; he was up in the air, heading directly for Chiyo now.

"Elder Chiyo!" Sakura called out in alarm; she threw up her staff drawing up water in streams and aiming them directly for Sasori. It delayed him, because he was forced to avoid the water attacks now and Sakura used the distraction to her advantage, she drew back Gaap and the water fell. While he was distracted Sakura ran after him; putting her djinn away. Pumping chakra to her feet, she jumped high into the air, letting out a loud cry as she appeared above Sasori, she hit him from behind. Smashing his puppet body, watching as it fell to pieces.

'Made it…'

Landing beside Chiyo, Sakura was panting softly now; wiping the sweat dripping down her face. She smiled.

"We did it elder Chiyo." Sakura cried in an overly excited voice.

Chiyo stared at Sakura with shock again; but it was the kind that came with heavy relief. "Sakura….you…"

" _ALRIGHT" Gaap exclaimed loudly, making Sakura wince._

" _That's out king!" said Stolas proudly_

" _Well done."_

" _You're certainly a fine candidate." Orias praised._

" _Yea-_

Sakura paused when she heard it; she stopped breathing as she heard the familiar clinking of hollow wood echoes and Chiyo did the same. Slowly; Sakura turned around to the dreadful sight of a puppet reassembling itself in the air. The body parts that had scattered were drawing back together and at last, the head with the mess of red on top returned to the neck.

Sasori looked at the two with an expressionless face befitting a puppet. "You did what, exactly?"

Sakura watched Sasori, somewhat bewildered. "You're still here?"

"It's not going to be that easy; little girl." Said Sasori "Though I am quite pissed, being driven this far by the likes of you."

Pointing his finger, Sasori used a chakra string to draw out a scroll from behind his back. Lifting it into the air, he unrolled it while his other hand reached for the side of his chest, opening it like a compartment; it started to glow a light blue and shot out many chakra strings. Then from the scroll, puppets began to emerge; their number growing until they had created a shadow over the Sakura and Chiyo. There were so many, Sakura couldn't even begin to count.

"I-Impossible" Chiyo gasped, "There has to be over a hundred puppets. A puppet master's ability is measured by the number of puppets they can use and Sasori-

"Used these to conquer an entire nation." Sasori told them; he then lowered his head placing his hand over his face and other on his hip. "But this is beyond annoying; to think I am using them for something like this. My final puppets."

Using chakra strings, Chiyo drew back the puppet arm she had discarded before. Without the third Kazekage puppet, the sand was no longer a problem. After she attached it back; she reached into her pouch and drew out a scroll. She was intent on using her last resort as her grandson; while it wasn't as many she could control ten puppets; with them they would at least stand a-

"Please stop elder Chiyo," Sakura said, without turning around "Leave this to me."

Chiyo gaped at Sakura; "Sakura; I know you are strong but you cannot go against all these puppets alone! This is not bravery; it's stupidity!"

Sakura chuckled, taking several steps forward; keeping her back to Chiyo as she spoke. "Alone? I don't fight alone-not anymore."

Chiyo narrowed her eyes; confused now "What do you mean? Sakura, you're underestimating him!"

"No, I know I'm not." Sakura stated, straightening her shoulders "If anything he is the one who's been mocking me. Calling me 'little girl'. I've respected him as an opponent and he has shown none. I am a ninja as well!"

Sasori chuckled, unable to contain his amusement "Is that what this is about? Your pride? Is it so important to you; that you're willing to die for it?"

Sakura glared at the puppet, stopping so that she was standing at a more or less equal distance between Sasori and Chiyo. "I will not die at the hands of an enemy that has such littler regard for life that they do no appreciate their own."

"What exactly are you babbling about?" asked Sasori.

"I will not die at the hands of a puppet, nor will I become one." Sakura stated, "I'd sooner scatter my body across the four winds in ashes."

Sasori's grin widened; "Then there would be nothing left of you; my ideal to transform you into an art that will last forever is far better don't you think? You would be remembered forever."

Sakura scoffed, "As one of your conquests? I think not."

"Well no matter; you won't have a choice when you're dead." Sasori said, drawing his puppets nearer to cover more of the sky and sun above.

"I will not allow that." Chiyo said; she untied the bind from it; saying how she had hoped she wouldn't need it again. Unrolling the scroll; there were ten symbols written on them and drawing out in a transparent blue mist were ten puppets clad in white.

"Ah, grandma Chiyo's quintessential 'Ten fingers'; I've heard rumors that you used those puppets to conquer a castle. Secret white attack Chikamatsu's Collectin of 10. However impressive it is though; it won't be enough."

Sakura then chided in, "You're right; it won't be; because she won't be using them."

"What?" Sasori narrowed his eyes at Sakura, frowning deeply. "That attitude of yours is really starting to annoy me."

Sakura held out her hands, shrugging "I've been told I have that effect."

Turning back, the pinkette faced the women "I am sorry elder Chiyo, but I need to ask you not to use those puppets."

Chiyo frowned, thinking this was just childish stubbornness of a youth who had not yet experienced the bittersweet taste of defeat. "Sakura that's enough from you; you cannot-

"If you use those puppets to fight him when I attack; I can guarantee I'll end up destroying them as well." Sakura said, her tone was what could only be placed as definitive. "Instead of trying to convince you, let me show you."

Turning back to face Sasori and his army of puppets.

"Are you ready for the finale?" asked Sasori, smirking.

"Yes-though it's going to be over faster than you'd want it to be." Sakura said sighing softly, "To be honest, I didn't think I'd be showing it to someone so soon."

Sakura closed her eyes and started speaking; her voice clear and polished, "Oh mighty djinn of strength and discord heed my call; use my magoi and grant me power to destroy my enemy-BELETH."

Sakura felt the warm light engulf her body; a third eye appearing in the center of her forehead as it did with all her equips; her pink hair growing passed her shoulders and down her back turning greyish red, two horns emerged from her head, bat-like wings on her back spread out. Her clothing was replaced with a black dress that cut down her chest showing off her stomach; the bottom split into three parts showing off her legs, now clad in silver boots. Her claws and the armor on her arms returned as well.

"Elder Chiyo, I suggest you distance yourself a little more."

Chiyo felt her hear beating rapidly in her chest as she watched Sakura's appearance take on a drastic change. As the light dimmed down; there she stood in her full djinn equip. Never before, had she seen such a transformation and it was almost too overwhelming for her heart to handle.

"This….is your final form as well?" Sasori asked, never taking his eyes off the girl. "What interesting powers you have. I'll make use of it when you're my puppet."

"This isn't exactly 'final' since I have four more…but it's more than enough to defeat your puppets." Opening her eyes, Sakura smirked at the puppet master; "Even if you did kill me, this power will never be yours to control."

Sasori's expression turned hostile, "We'll see about that; little girl!"

The puppets; all held different types of weapons in their hands charged at Sakura all at once. With the same blinding speed; closing into the former pinkette; but before they were able to get further to the ground; Sakura spoke.

"SAKURA MOVE" Chiyo called out but the pinkette remained still; a smirk appearing on her face…

"Khilaf Nar."

It all happened in an instant. An eight star appeared within the battlefield and then an excruciating heat, promising no comfort or warmth, but total annihilation of everything in its wake.

The puppets all became engulfed in a dark flame that spread at a great speed; incinerating every single puppet in the air; the flames were controlled by Sakura. She kept them a good distance from touching the ground and thus avoid burning. The attack was so powerful though; that it lit up the sky like a beacon; swirling around and able to be seen for miles. Dark flames.

Sasori couldn't take his eyes off the sight; all his glorious puppets being burned to ashes; the chakra strings all listened simultaneously and he knew that not a single one had survived; it was impossible. The flames seemed so controlled and tamed, yet powerful.

'This this; is she even human?' he wondered, watching as she lowered her hands, taking a calming breath. Her eyes then connected with his and he knew then-he was outmatched.

"Do you understand now?" Sakura said, turning to Sasori once more. Her face void of any emotion.

Sasori looked at her, disbelief filling his mind; had he truly lost, lost for the first time-to a child no less?

'No, I refuse to accept this!' Sasori thought angrily; he lunged at Sakura, drawing out a blade from his arm. He was about to throw his hit and Sakura was about to counter; when something happened that stopped them both from attacking.

Sakura's eyes trailed down to Sasori's chest; in the white circle that had his name drawn, there were the shard ends of two blades that stood out of it; a purple liquid began to fall from the cuts and onto the ground. The mother and father puppets that Chiyo had used before were on either side of Sasori; holding the swords hilts that had been plunged into him. Sakura's eyes fell on Chiyo, her hand was extended with several chakra strings attached.

"You let your guard down at the very end Sasori," said Chiyo, "You were so consumed with killing Sakura, that you failed to notice the puppets behind you; now you're finished."

"I can still move." Sasori said, drawing his foot forward but in that moment Sakura summoned Beleth's flames once more, they took on the heads of dragons and circled around Sasori.

"If you do; then your precious puppet body will be destroyed instantly." Sakura knew that this was a personal weakness for Sasori; he went on about preserving people in the forms of puppets. Then she addressed Chiyo, "Elder Chiyo, how did you know that was his weak point?"

"It make sense." Chiyo told her, "No matter how much of his body becomes a puppet; he still used chakra and had to have a living part somewhere."

It made sense now; how Sasori was able to bring himself back after she smashed his puppet.

"Your true form is the part that houses your chakra, the living core in your chest." Sakura said.

"I have no human part, not anymore." Sasori retorted in a blanked voice; "I don't feel anything, I don't care about the countless lives I've taken."

"I know, and I also know what that's like; to not care about the lives you've take." Sakura told him, crossing her arms over her barely covered chest. "It doesn't matter to me though; I'm still here and living for reason and I will continue to do that. I do not need a puppets body to understand those moments where you feel nothing for the sins you commit. "

Stepping closer to Sasori so that she was eye to eye. "But it's not as if you were able to completely become a puppet yourself; you may not show compassion but you were during the battle; angered; annoyed, intrigued…"

"I suppose you're right," Sasori agreed, "I'll be dead soon though. So before I go; I guess I'll do something pointless too. Consider it a reward for beating me. You wanted information on Orochimaru correct?"

Sakura listened carefully, silent as Sasori spoke. "In ten days, go to the Bridge to Heaven and Earth in the Hidden Village of Grass at noon."

"What's there?"

"I've got a spy working as one of Orochimaru's subordinates. We're supposed

to…..rendezvous…there…."

Sakura's eyes widened slightly as she watched Sasori fall silent; he fell to the ground along with two puppets.

Deactivating her djinn equip, she immediately fell on her knees, panting heavily, Sakura turned to face Chiyo who had a solemn expression. Not that she was surprised-despite everything; he was still her grandson.

"It's over now."

"I'm the one who should've been killed though," Chiyo corrected her, "Sasori saw through my attack but he didn't dodge."

Sakura gave a small smile, crouching down "Well; we humans are fickle creatures."

'And thanks to him, I have a lead to helping us find Sasuke.'

Stepping back to hold out her hand for Chiyo, "Should we get going?"

Nodding, Chiyo and Sakura started walking through the rubble passed the broken puppets and their ashes that remained.

" _Well done my king," said Beleth "You did an excellent job"_

'Better-thanks to you.' Sakura said smiling.

Vision blurring, Sakura began to sway before collapsing on to her knees again. She felt the wave of nausea wash over her, threatening to drown her completely, before she heaved and wretched bile again onto the ground. Sakura coughed roughly, grimacing at the bitter taste in her mouth and the foul odor of her own vomit.

'Again…why?'

Sakura didn't understand why she was feeling so weak now? Yes, this was after a battle, but something felt off about this. She hadn't fought against the fake Itachi but she had gotten sick then too and back in Suna and tracking back to this; it had continued to go on. Then there was her magoi and chakra; Sakura felt herself oddly drained.

Chiyo crouched down in front of Sakura, rubbing her back and watching her with sharp eyes. The old women rubbed her chin in thought, her eyes closed for a moment and a frown appeared on her face. She had been worried about this for a while now and although she continued to tell herself it wasn't possible because of the pinkette's age in standing; it was worth a check.

"Sakura, sit up for a moment."

Moving back up, Sakura wasn't able to ask the elder what she was doing, because soon, she felt a hand placed on top of her stomach and chakra was pouring in. The sickness began to disappear and her mind clearing. Chiyo narrowed her eyes, concerntrating her chakra thouroughly.

'So it's as I suspect….' Chiyo thought, glancing up at Sakura, who was panting with her eyes closed. 'So young…'

A few minutes later, Chiyo stood up once again and started stepping across all of the broken, burnt puppets.

"Come we should get going now and find your team."

"Elder Chiyo…" Sakura trailed softly, "Is there something wrong?"

The elder looked back to Sakura, "That depends on you."

"Huh?"

Exhaling softly, Chiyo looked up at the skies. "I'll tell you soon, but first…there is something important that I must do."

"But-

"Sakura; trust me."

* * *

Sakura and Chiyo took off from the base in search of their scattered comrades; mainly Naruto and Kaskhi who had followed after the Akatsuki Deidara that had taken Gaara. Sakura was especially in a rush because; if the Akatsuki were after the Jinchuuriki, it was clear that Naruto was being baited to follow after Deidara.

'But, Kakashi's with him, so I'm not too worried.' Sakura thought, she leapt alongside Chiyo. Both had managed to come out of the battle with minimum injury and were therefore able to keep moving at a steady and fair pace. However, Sakura didn't feel like she had the energy for a djinn equip to fly to them. Sitri's would've been especially useful in the situation.

"Sakura," Chiyo called, emerald green eyes fell on the old women after she addressed the pinkette, "What was that power earlier?"

Sakura didn't falter in anyway, not her body, facial expression or voice; "That power; was mine."

"I think you know that is not what I meant."

"I do," Sakura replied honestly, keeping her eyes straight ahead as they continued to leap across the gorge, there were thick logs bridged between the two sides, making it easy for them to move around.

"That power defeated an Akatsuki member," Chiyo said, "And I know Sasori was far from weak, but you were able to beat him, it's not any kind of technique that I've ever heard of. That form that you took; it looked like a demon of some kind-

"It's not a demon." Sakura corrected her quickly; she would never reveal the origin of the djinn to anyone but at the same time she would not allow them to be mistaken for something they were clearly not, especially not that.

"Then what was it?" asked Chiyo, trying to understand.

"It doesn't matter," Sakura said finally, "This power, is mine; that's all anyone needs to know."

That was all anyone would know.

"I assume, you haven't informed your comrades about this?" asked Chiyo.

Sakura shook her head. "I doubt they would react as well as you and can be especially persistent in getting answers."

Chiyo's averted her gaze to the front, "That might not be all that surprises them…"

"Huh?" Sakura looked to her side, not catching what Chiyo had just said. "What was that elder Chiyo?"

"Nothing…" Chiyo trailed warily. Silent for only a few minutes as they continued to leap across the valley, supported by the tree logs placed horizontally within it.

"Sakura…you wouldn't happen to be…single would you?"

The pinkette nearly misplaced her footing and slipped as they were in mid-air when Chiyo asked the bold question.

"Um..I am." Sakura swallowed softly.

"Then…" Chiyo looked like she was having a difficult time finding the words and daring to voice them. "Did you have someone special in your life before?"

Images of Sinbad and Sasuke immediately came to mind and Sakura's hand unconsciously reached to touch the ring around her neck-baby angel. Sakura's eyes were down-casted now and Chiyo knew she had hit the nail on the head with that question.

"I did…but we're separated now. I won't see him ever again."

Chiyo's eyes softened as she stared at the pinkette who now held a pain-filled gaze and for a moment, Sakura didn't look like a young girl-rather, an adult who had experienced the trials of life that were far too advanced for someone her age.

It became clear, that her power was not the only extraordinary attribute she possessed.

* * *

Because of a wild tremor and a sighting of a crash that had scattered the earth so high, it could be seen from a distance. Sakura and Chiyo were able to find Naruto and Kakashi; in a half destroyed forest, the ground looked like it had been hit so hard it was nothing more than craters, the trees were in no better shape and in the center of the chaotic display were Sakura's teammates.

"We finally caught up," Sakura said when she landed in front of the two,

Naruto panted softly, looking up to the pinkette with a tired grin, relieved to see her safe. "Sakura."

The first time Kakashi realized when the two females landed in front of them, was the amount of injuries sustained. Sakura had a few scratches on her, but Chiyo had no physical injuries anywhere on her. Made him wonder how exactly they were able to subdue Sasori with that such a little damage in return?

Moving forward, Sakura removed her glove and put her hand on Naruto's cheek feeling the cold sweat on his warm face. "You look really drained,"

"You guys…you got him huh?" Naruto asked, though he already knew the answer.

Sakura smiled back at him, "Yes,"

Chiyo looked around, "It looks like you two are still having some trouble here."

"Unfortunately." Kakashi looked up in a tree, Sakura followed his line of sight and saw two clones of Naruto's on the branch of a tree, holding Gaara.

Kakashi explained to them what had happened after they left the cave, they had chased down Deidara and managed to secure Gaara after a struggle but he had managed to get away at the last minute-despite the fact that he now had no arms and Gaara's current condition didn't look very promising either.

Sakura wondered if Deidara had gotten far, without arms, it wasn't likely. Just then, the sound of clashing metal was heard in the distance. It turned out that Team Gai had caught up with Team Kakashi and by the sounds in the distance, they had also found Deidara. Kakashi was able to see them from the distance thanks to his eyes. Then Neji shouted for everyone to get away and with good reason; when the four came running towards Naruto, Sakura, Kakashi and Chiyo, they were barely avoiding a huge explosion that was coming their way! They were about to be engulfed by the flames, their eyes closed waiting for impact but it never came. When they opened their eyes, everything had gone silent.

In the distance, there was a crater; Sakura's eyes fell on Kakashi, it seemed she wasn't the only one who picked up some new skills over the years….

Everyone moved out of the forest and into a more open field; Gaara was laid on the grass. Sakura was looking down at Gaara, her hands over his chest attempting to revive him; but it was no use. Afterall, medical jutsu couldn't revive the dead-not hers anyway.

'All this training and when it comes down to one thing; I can't eve-

" _Don't say that my king," Beleth said_

Naruto stood in front, watching anxiously "Sakura?"

Removing her hands, Sakura shook her head with a solemn expression on her face. "His heart isn't beating."

Naruto's shoulders began to shake, tears streamed down his face as he stared down at the red-head. He began to rant, asking why Gaara had to die this way?

"Calm yourself Uzumaki Naruto." Instructed Chiyo

Naruto turned around, glaring at her "Shut the hell up! It's all your fault! If you goddammed Sand Shinobi hadn't put that monster inside him, this never would've happened! Do you have any idea what kind of burden he carried! Damn the Jinchuuriki. You have no right to act like you're better than us, to label us!"

Naruto then started to sob heavily, tears streaming down his face. The compassion he had, was something Sakura always found admirable. Be it for an enemy or someone he cared for. He had a gift for drawing people towards him, reaching out to them as others have not, touching their hearts.

Sakura walked up to Naruto; when she was in front she wrapped her arms around him; his head fell on her bare shoulder, tears streaming down. "I couldn't save Sasuke….I couldn't save Gaara….I've trained so hard for three years….and nothing's changed!"

"Don't Naruto," Sakura said, tightening her grip around his neck. "You did your best."

"But it wasn't enough!"

At the sight of the two mourning teens, Chiyo began making her way towards them; then going straight passed Sakura and Naruto; she crouched down in front of Gaara's body. Placing her hands over his chest, she closed her eyes; pushing chakra to the palm of her hands she opened them again. Sakura and Naruto turned their heads to watch. Sakura felt an unusual energy in this technique that the elder was performing. Her own practice of differentiating between magoi and chakra had made her sensitive to sensing the two. What she was feeling now was chakra mixed with life force, exiting from Chyo's body and into Gaara's.

"This technique," Chiyo began softly for them to hear, "Is my own creation. It was initially meant for Sasori…it's called the Reanimation jutsu."

"Reanimation?" Sakura gasped softly, "Elder Chiyo, are you?"

"Yes, but it will come at a great price." Chiyo said, feeling fatigue begin to wash over her as she gave her life energy itself to Gaara.

Sakura's body went rigid when she realized what that meant, a jutsu that revived the dead had to come at something quite costly; a life for a life. And elder Chiyo was about to exchange her life for Gaara's.

"What are you doing!?" Naruto shouted, but Sakura put her hand on his chest to push him back slightly, she turned to him with a strong gaze.

"She's bringing Gaara back to life." Sakura stated, shocking everyone; "This must be a technique that only elder Chiyo knows."

Naruto's eyes flashed as he smiled, asking if that was really true but he had not realized the cost of what this jutsu would bring and Sakura didn't want to tell him now. Knowing him, he'd probably interject.

"I'm happy," Chiyo panted softly, "That someone like you appeared in the shinobi world we foolish people creating-Uzumaki Naruto. Everything I've ever done was a mistake. But now it looks like I'll be able to do something right at the end."

Sakura bit her bottom lip, she wanted to turn her head away from the sight but she didn't. This would be Chiyo's last moments on this earth and she did not want to be the one to miss her deed. Her heart gave a painful clench. It didn't matter how many times she saw sacrifice; the effect wouldn't lessen.

"Sakura." Chiyo addressed the pinkette, without turning around. "I have never met someone like you in my lifetime. Today made it clear, you've surpassed your teacher and you'll continue to grow. Keep on the path that you've decided to take and protect those dear to you with that power which is only yours."

"I will." Sakura replied softly, casting her eyes down.

"Come here, there is something I need to tell you…" Chiyo panted.

Sakura came forward, sitting down beside the women. Chiyo leaned towards her, whispering something in her ear, so that no one else around them could hear what she had to say.

Sakura's eyes widened, after hearing what Chiyo had to say, but it was in that moment, that her life slipped away. When Gaara opened his eyes, Chiyo's had closed and in turn, with the Kazekage of the Sand village saved, marked the end of team seven's mission together.

However, Sakura had left on that mission, completely disoriented and she wanted to return to the village as soon as possible to confirm something that made her feel a sliver of dread.

…

…

…

…

…

…

" _You're pregnant"_

 **There we go; that's it for now The next chapter will be coming up shortly but there's no need to feel any rush to read through. It's just that I am worried that university work is going to take over all of my time and I might not be back to update for a while.**

 **Don't forget to leave a review please and thank you!**


	4. Present: Life with twins

It had been shocking to say the least; the conditions of Sakura finding out she was expecting and for a moment she tried deny it. But after testing, Sakura came to a stark conclusion that settled after reviewing the last night she saw Sinbad and something she had been told.

" _The distortion of time is dependent on the amount of Shards that are taken from the Looking Glass. Space and time between your world and this world synchronize only after the shards return and the Looking Glass is whole again…."_

The Looking Glass; built a bridge to cross between worlds and when Sakura shattered it; that bridge had broken and time had become distorted between the worlds. Barely a moment moved in hers while years moved in the other world. Yunan had told her about the Looking Glass having the power to return her to the exact moment in time that she had left and exactly as she was before. Yunan only pertained to her physical attributes being reversible, but there wasn't any mention of reversing actual life spans. That included one (being) created.

After Sakura gave herself a test, it wasn't any question who the father was, although it wasn't a simple idea to come to terms with and she chose not to immediately expose it. When the truth finally did get out; there was a multitude of reactions Sakura had to account for; that included not only her parents, but her teachers and friends who all wanted to know the same thing.

Who was the father?

Despite the constant interrogation on the matter, Sakura refused to give any information away pertaining to who the father was. Sakura made it clear that she did not ever want to talk about the topic either. She couldn't possibly tell them the truth without having an even larger crisis on her hands than being pregnant. At first, Sakura was worried that Tsunade might link things together if she found out from Katsuyu, her summoning, that Sakura had been trapped in another world. But whenever Katsuyu was summoned, there was never a moment to bring it up and thus; Sakura had dismissed the thought of ever telling anyone the truth.

She did not want anything else from that world to interfere with her life in this one. Of course, finding out that you are pregnant in your teens does tend to be the trigger most aren't prepared for. Sakura was taken off of missions for several months; that included the ones that were associated to finding Sasuke. It was stressful. Knowing that she couldn't do anything at the moment because of her previous choices but after she gave birth to the twins; she didn't care about the time she had missed out as a ninja.

Sakura remembered when Sinbad had been told he looked just like his parents Badr and Esra; and when Sakura first set her sights on the new-borns, she knew that they were going to greatly resemble their father. Thus influencing her decision to name them after their late grandparents. This fact was the only real bit of information that she gave to anyone relating back to Sinbad.

To this day, Sakura managed to keep their origins a secret; from her friends, her parents and even her children.

* * *

"Stop poking me!" Esra complained, shoving her brother's shoulder hard enough to nearly push him off his chair while he tried to jab her with his kabob stick.

"That's what you get for stealing my food! You mini-monster!" Badr shot back, stocking his tongue out.

"I only did that because you're greedy and already had two in the time it takes to finish one!"

Badr was about to attempt another attack on his sister when Sakura spoke.

"Badr; stop trying to stab your sister with kitchen utensils." Sakura warned, giving her son a firm look that made him put down his makeshift weapon on his plate.

Sakura, Badr, Esra, Mebuki and Kizashi sat at the dining table, eating together. While it started out as a peaceful gathering, quickly escalated into a war between Badr and Esra for Sakura's Soy dipped kabobs. Even when their mother would break up their fights, a few minutes later they would be ready to start a new one. This wasn't just in cases of meals but almost every other aspect in their lives.

One of the many joys of having twins; Sakura believed.

"So Sakura," Mebuki addressed her daughter. "Are there any more missions you plan on taking?"

Sakura shook her head, "Not for a while, I'll be staying to work at the hospital these next few weeks."

Mebuki smiled, "Well that's good; you need a break."

Kizashi nodded in agreement, "Sakura, you really work too hard. I can't even remember the last time you had a day off."

Sakura gave a weary smile, "Everyone's been telling me that today."

"So…" Esra chided, lifting her head from her plate. "That means you're going to be here with us right?"

These past few months, Badr and Esra hadn't been seeing much of their mother, with her rank being jonin, she was able to do a lot of missions that were often extended periods of time and because of that, the twins would stay with their grandparents and while they didn't have an issue with that. But they weren't incapable of missing their mother.

"Yes Esra; I'll be here with you and Badr now." The pinkette reassured, "I'll just be taking shifts at the hospital but I'll still be at home when you are."

The twins glanced at one another, smiling before turning back to their meals.

"So how was school this week?" Sakura asked, taking a bite of her food. Her back aligned with the chairs backrest; giving her height even while she sat. After being hit on the head by Rurumu just because she slouched in her seat, it had become a habit for Sakura to always sit straight.

Badr gave a mischievous grin. "It was fun; today some of the girls from the other class made me lunch but I couldn't decide what I wanted so-

"He decided to blindfold himself, made the girls stand in a circle with him in the middle and play 'Lunch roulette'" Esra quoted, raising her hands. She then smiled cheekily, pointing to herself in a prideful manner. "So I came over, smacked him into the ground and dragged him away."

Sakura sighed; Badr was definitely Sinbad's child; really able to charm everyone. Sakura saw so much of Sinbad in Badr that she listed the ways in which the two were similar; aside from their looks; which had Esra also falling into that category.

Badr pulled his face towards Esra, "Yeah; she made a 'Badr' sized crater in playground."

Sakura's face pulled back, turning stern, "Badr, please don't take advantage of your classmates like that; it's wrong and Esra; don't just hit your brother. I know you want to keep him in check, but maybe next time just drag him away instead."

"Okay." Esra nodded. "Oh, and I beat Badr sparring today."

The young girl was holding a gleeful smile on her face as she recalled the memory of sparring against her brother and pinning him face down on the ground.

"Yeah but I beat you at shuriken training." Badr countered.

"And I beat you at-

"Okay, okay." Sakura clapped her hands, ceasing another potential melee between her children. "You both sound like you're doing great at the academy and I'm sure you'll be great ninja."

"Well with you training them at four, it would be a surprise if they turned out otherwise." Kizashi said.

"I'll take that as a compliment."

If you were old enough to walk, you were old enough to train. That was a parenting principal Sakura decided to employ. She wasn't inherently gifted like the rest of her friends, who had their bloodlines as a stepping stone to becoming ninja and because of that, she didn't think there was much she could offer to Badr and Esra in the gene pool. She took to training them as soon as possible; before they could talk properly, Badr and Esra were training to build their strength and physical stamina. Then she moved to chakra training.

Of course, it didn't take long after Sakura began their training to realise that Badr and Esra inherited more from their father than his appearance. Similarly to Sinbad, when they fought, Badr and Esra showed their capability of reading their opponents movements; despite having no training prior to the practice. Esra also had excellent chakra control, so Sakura had taken to the teaching her daughter for the last few years, medicinal jutsu and even chakra enhanced strength-which terrified most of Sakura's friends when they found out about this. Sakura trained Badr in managing different types of weapons, from standard ninja weapons, shuriken, senbon, kunai, to katana, spears and so on. He was a rather quick study and even learned the shadow-clone technique. He also never hesitated to leap.

It had been questioned several times why she chose to train them so young but Sakura's only answer as that she wanted her children to be able to protect themselves should the time come when she, as a parent and adult could not. There was no further elaboration on the matter.

* * *

After dinner, Sakura saw her parents off at the door while Badr and Esra were clearing the table. Mebuki put her hand on Sakura's shoulder with a concerned expression.

"Call if you need any more help with the kids."

"I will mom, don't worry."

"And stop working so hard," Mebuki scolded, frowning then.

"I'll try." Sakura laughed. Wondering how many times she had heard that today.

* * *

Badr and Esra helped Sakura with the dishes, working in a coordinated system. Sakura washed, Esra dried and Badr packed away. The twins had learned quickly that it was difficult for Sakura having to juggle her responsibilities with at the hospital, as a ninja and a single mother; so they sometimes helped her with the chores around the house. It was a dynamic that began when they were only six and it surprised Sakura because she hadn't even considered making her children to chores.

"Oh yeah mom, we've got a parent-teacher conference scheduled for next week. Iruka-sensei says he really wants to speak with you." Esra chided. "Especially about Badr."

Badr nearly dropped the plates in his arms, turning around to glare at his sister, who in turn playfully stuck out her tongue towards him. Sakura snickered, rinsing her hands at the sink and shaking them off.

"Oh don't worry, I'll be there." Sakura confirmed. "I'd like to hear what the two of you have been getting up to when my back is turned. You know, the things you don't tell me."

Badr smacked his hands on top of the kitchen counter, "If this is about the super-glue incident; I already said sorry."

"It's more about that present you put on Iruka's desk." Sakura stated, still smiling. Badr had left a small, well decorate box on Iruka's desk. The box was attacked to several near-invisible strings, often used by ninja which was attached to several items in the office. So when Iruka picked up the box, the strings pulled and that triggered a chain reaction of destruction. Almost everything in the office had collapsed and Sakura had to be called in immediately after for a conference.

"I haven't done anything since then." Badr pointed.

"It was two weeks ago." Sakura stated with a deadpan expression.

Esra snickered, pointing at Badr. "You really should watch yourself nii-nii."

The first to be born was Badr, so Esra had taken to shortening, the term for big brother to nii-nii.

"Uh huh, and what about that paper bomb incident in the classroom? I know that wasn't just Badr little lady." Sakura said, turning to her daughter, who turned away to hide her face. She then heard her twins snickering together at the relay of the mischievous memory.

Badr and Esra together, were the perfect ingredients for the recipe of chaos. Sakura always had her hands full with them, even back when they were barely able talk. Every time she turned around, they were either be in trouble, about cause trouble or laying out a long term plan to create trouble. The reasons, justifications and excuses always varied.

Sakura rubbed her head as she thought back to all the shenanigans her children had gotten up to since they could walk. It actually made her think that war was easier.

* * *

Later that night, when Sakura entered her room, Badr and Esra were already lying on either side, with a space in the middle meant for her. While they each had their own room; they preferred sleeping with Sakura when she came back from missions. It was yet another dynamic that the three had fallen into.

Of course, Sakura didn't know how much longer that was going to last.

Sakura climbed onto the bed, plopping down in the centre, causing the matrass to jostle slightly at the new weight as Sakura settled in the middle of the twins.

"Okay," Sakura pushed her legs under the covers, she then turned to each twin, tucking them under the covers. "Everyone comfortable?"

"Yes." They chimed.

"Mom, can you tell us a story?" asked Badr.

Sakura raised her eyebrow, leaning further back into the headrest. "You haven't asked for those in a while. So what story do you guys want to-

"The one about the sailor, who wants to become king." Badr interjected, he had an excited expression on his face.

"The whole story." Esra clarified.

Sakura's jaw dropped, she raised her eyebrow looking at the two children. "There is no way we're getting through that in one night if you want to hear the whole story."

"Then tell it in parts like you always do." Esra compromised, moving closer to her mother's side, resting her head on the side of Sakura's chest.

Despite shaking her head but began to tell them the story. It was something she might have told one too many times but Badr and Esra never tired of it and something about that made Sakura happy. The stories were always based off of Sinbad but when Sakura told the tales, she always made a couple of adjustments. Like giving code names to everyone, replacing a few details and what's more-keeping herself out of it.

"There was a famous sailor, who could lead ships out of any storms, no matter how thick, rigorous or endless. He would always find a way out. Because he had a very special gift. He could read the waves and conquer them. The waves of the sea, the sky, the wind and even people; he could see them all. The sailor had an ambition, to become a king and change the corrupt world he had grown in. He believed that the power of a king, could grant him the power to change the world…."

Esra and Badr listened attentively, they shuffled closer towards their mother to hear her voice, despite the already close proximity.

"One day, the sailor met a traveller and the traveller told him about a tower." Sakura paused, she closed her eyes as she spoke. Her own thoughts taking her back to her time in the different dungeons and everything that she wished had not occurred within it.

"This tower held the power of a king and if he overcame the tower's obstacles and dangers, that power would become his. However, he was not the only one that sought the power of a king. He had to go against an army and a dragon and when he came to the final test of the tower, he was made to fight against the general leading the army-someone who had far more combat experience than him. Yet in the end, the on to obtain the tower's power, was the sailor."

Sakura told Badr and Esra' the sailor's story as vividly and in as much detail as she could; however this was referencing to Sinbad's first dungeon and Sakura had only been present after that. She told them that the sailor; after getting a taste of the power that a king held, wanted more and began travelling the world in search of these towers.

Esra yawned, "Every time I hear this story, I think that the sailor was pretty greedy for power."

Sakura chuckled; running a hand through her daughter's hair. "I guess he was wasn't he?"

"I think he had the right idea," Badr stated, looking up at the ceiling. "I mean, if you have the chance to get more out of life, wouldn't you take it?"

"That just means he's an opportunist; he could get everything he wants and it probably still won't be enough." Esra said pointedly.

Sakura laughed, wrapping her arms around each of her children and pulling them towards her. There was usually a debate of some sort whenever she told these stories and it could go on longer than the actual tale.

"Alright, now it's time for bed." After giving a quick kiss to Badr and Esra, Sakura turned off the lamp to settle in between the two again.

"Goodnight my baby angels."

"Good night mom."

* * *

" _Sakura; I love you." Sinbad pressed his forehead against her own, there were tears in the corner of his eyes._

 _Fresh tears were now falling down Sakura's face. The happiness she felt in that moment caused a flood, the tears kept pouring but her eyes were far from sad._

" _So; will you stay with me?" Sinbad asked again, his voice barely above a whisper._

 **..**

 **..**

 **..**

 _Swallowing softly, Sakura closed her eyes as Sinbad leaned down, his weight gently pressing on top of her. Their lips falling over one another's, slowly moving; neither were in a rush for this. Consenting without words or physical gestures. Taking their time-to reassure that they wouldn't leave. That everything would be alright._

..

..

..

..

..

..

 _.._

 _.._

 _.._

 _Sinbad and Sakura came atop a high point of the island overlooking most of the city, leading to the harbor, a crescent moon in a star-filled sky, reflecting off the calm ocean, a soft breeze blowing across them, it was the perfect inducement for tranquility. It was as if their eyes were instantly set, unable to move from the scene before them and they didn't mind at all._

" _This is a good island."_

" _It is." Sakura confirmed, taken in by the scenery. Sinbad shuffled closer to her, his hand touching her waist to get her attention._

" _I've decided, I'll definitely buy this island and make it our home."_

 _Sakura smiled softly. "Our home."_

 _.._

 _.._

 _.._

" _Sakura"_

 _Placing both hands on her shoulders, Sinbad lied her back down on the bed. Although a good few minutes had gone by, Sakura could feel that her heart hadn't stopped beating. She continued to hold her arms across her chest, hugging herself. Her head slightly titled to the side, exposing a lot of her neck. She wanted to look at Sinbad; to really look at him, but she couldn't bring herself to let her eyes trail._

 _When Sinbad breathed out one word, she nearly came undone. "Beautiful."_

..

..

..

" _You must really hate me, for falling in love with you." Sinbad said, smiling distressed._

..

..

..

 _Her breath hitched when Sinbad touched her again. The light brushes was comforting but teasing. Sinbad put his hands on her shoulder and started to gently knead them in an attempt to relax her rigid form._

" _Don't worry." Sinbad told her several times as he continued to massage her shoulders_

 _.._

 _.._

 _.._

 _Glancing to his side, he reached into his pocket, pulling out something which made Sakura's breath hitch softly. He held out his palm to reveal a small black box. "It's a ring, very rare, actually one of a kind, in fact it even has a name…Tifl Malak."_

 _.._

 _.._

 _.._

" _Sakura, can I?" He panted softly. He knew he was ready, but Sakura's decision was still weighing on his mind. If she told him right now that she didn't want to continue. He would stop. No questions._

 _Sakura's mind was hazy. This world has given her a lot of grief but with Sinbad she was able to face it and grow more than she ever thought possible. Even though she still felt the ache of not being able to return home, of never being able to see her friends or family again. With Sinbad, loneliness wouldn't touch her again. She was able to find those things in this world too. Including love and she wasn't going to take it for granted-not anymore._

" _Yes." She whispered._

 _.._

 _.._

 _.._

" _I don't want a ring from you."_

 _Sinbad didn't flinch at her statement, hearing the pain in her voice when she spoke. "Then don't think of it as a ring, don't think of it as…" Sinbad looked at the box and then back to Sakura. "You don't have to love me; you don't have to come back to me, but if you could wear this-If I know that you were wearing this-then even if you hate me…_

 _Sinbad tilted his head slightly to the side, a tear falling from his right eye and down his cheek that he leaned downward. "We'll be fine…I'll know you're out there."_

 _.._

 _.._

 _.._

 _There was no words Sakura had to describe that feeling, the desire and stirring emotions. She grinned, starring up at the ceiling. Sinbad rolled onto his stomach next to her, still panting. He smiled when he saw her face. Cupping her jaw, he kissed her softly before pulling away._

" _Sure took us a while to get here huh?" Sinbad asked, brushing a few wet strands across her forehead._

" _Mmm," Sakura hummed tired but content. "Whole thing finally feels right though."_

 _.._

 _.._

 _.._

" _I could never hate you."_

Sakura woke with a start, coming back to reality; sweat beading down her face panting heavily. Looking at the time she saw that it was nearly six in the morning. Badr and Esra were still sleeping soundly on either side of her, barely moving, with heaving chests. Sakura exhaled softly, putting her hand on her sweaty forehead. All these years had gone and she still relived the past through her dreams.

Shaking her head, Sakura looked towards the window, beams of sunlight lightning pouring through the curtains.

'Another day…'

Carefully, Sakura removed herself from the twins and got out of bed, putting on her slippers and a white robe to shield her from the cold morning air. It barely took Sakura thirty minutes to get ready, taking a shower, dressing into casual attire rather than her ninja clothes, since she wouldn't be going on any missions. A red sleeveless qipao top that exposed her navel and fell to her knees, with light-coloured pants and high heels and a red headband; leaving her metal vessels and only wearing the chain with rings.

* * *

Sakura went to the kitchen, opening the curtains and windows to air out the house and then going to making breakfast and her children's lunch. Shuffling through the pantry, going about the square counter that bordered off the kitchen from their living room.

She didn't have any missions right now, so that meant she was taking her shifts at the hospital. Being equal in stature to Tsunade's healing abilities meant that she was on call most of the time, but ever since the Fourth Shinobi war ended things had become relatively peaceful and that Sakura was very grateful for. Badr and Esra didn't have any recollection of those times because they were only just born, but if they did, it would be filled with memories of her parents faces instead of her own. Since the village was destroyed by the leader of the Akatsuki Pain and then shortly after the war started; Sakura wasn't able to spend a lot of time with her children.

Sakura smiled, looking behind her she called loudly. "Badr, Esra, wake up or you're going to be late!"

There was some groaning, followed shortly after by several loud crashes and bumps coming from Sakura's rooms.

"Ow…." Two tired voices slurred.

Sakura laughed, shaking her head. She could already guess that Badr and Esra had probably rolled out of her bed-literally.

"Alright you two if nothing's broken or bleeding-take a shower, get dressed and get breakfast!"

There was a follow of the same groaning, "Okay…."

* * *

"And breathe in one more time," Sakura instructed the five year old boy, sitting on the hospital table. His mother standing next to him, with worried eyes. Her son had an asthma attack, although it wasn't a dire situation since he was rushed to the hospital right away and Sakura was able to tend to him quickly.

"Alright." Sakura leaned back, unplugging the stethoscope from her ears and then ruffling the boy's unruly dark hair. "You're going to be just fine."

He smiled up at her, his mother let out a breath of relief. "Thank goodness."

"I'll write a prescription." Sakura moved to the desk in the corner of the room, stacked with a few untouched files that had piled during Sakura's absence. She wrote out the medication on a piece of paper and gave it to the mother.

"Go down to reception and they'll direct you from there."

"Thank you, Miss Haruno."

When the women left with her son, Sakura went over to the desk to do some of the paper work but after barely ten minutes, she was interrupted. After a brief knock on the door, a young nurse came in, there were two people right behind her, a man and women.

"Haruno-san, your next patient has arrived."

"Alright, send them in."

A man and women entered the room, respectfully greeting Sakura. The man was assisting the women in holding herself up, keeping one hand on her back and the other to hold her own hand. Her struggling to walk was due to her current condition. Her six months pregnant condition.

"Please sit over here." Sakura instructed, getting the file on the women.

Her name was Akane and the man was her husband Ewan. They were here for an ultra-sound and routine check-up. Sakura watched as Akane's husband helped her settle on the bed.

"How are we feeling today?"

Akane smiled, setting her hands back on her bulging stomach "I'm alright, though this baby refuses to stay still."

Sakura nodded, "That does tend to happen this close to the final weeks. Any abdominal pains?"

"Yes, occasionally." Akane nodded,

Ewan, turned to Sakura with a worried expression. "Is that normal?"

"Well; during pregnancy your organs are constantly shifting, your uterus is expanding and your ligaments are stretching; so I'd say that merits for quite a bit of discomfort."

Sakura and Akane held back their laughter at the man's shocked expression. Ewan grimaced, muttering an apology to his wife for 'what he had done to her'.

"Usually the pain is bearable but if it stays on too long, you can ask if you can take acetaminophen."

As Sakura spoke, she began the examination, checking the mother's heartbeat and then moving her stethoscope to the stomach until she could hear it; then offering it to the parents to listen to. She then weighed the mother to be and gave her some advice on her dietary habits that were common in pregnancy.

"Now for the ultra-sound. Lean back here." Sakura moved around the bed, to get to the equipment. Ultrasound scanners consist of a console containing a computer and electronics, a video display screen and a transducer that is used to do the scanning.

Sakura then took the ultrasound gel on the table, squeezing out a sufficient amount on Akane's stomach and rubbing it in. Ultrasound waves don't travel very well through air and dry skin had a lot of tiny air pockets. Ultrasound gel is a type of conductive medium that enables a tight bond between the skin and transducer, letting the waves transmit directly to the tissues beneath and to the parts that need to be imaged.

"Alright, let's take a look." Sakura placed the transducer onto the bulging stomach, stretched out so far the belly button was completely visible. And it was worse with twins, as Sakura was aware. Moving it around for a little bit, Sakura stopped and pointed to the screen, the shifting black and white waves and shapes began to form and Sakura stopped after she had a clearer image of the babies form. The legs were tucked upwards, with its arms, laying on its side currently.

"See that?" Sakura asked, smiling. "There he is."

Akane began crying with a smile on her face as she held her husband's hand tightly, starring at the screen with happiness.

"It's him." Akane breathed.

"Our boy." Ewan whispered lovingly to his wife.

The couple had been to an ultra sound before, but now they were able to see the baby a lot more clearly, making out his entire form. What's more this was their first child, so it was cause for a bit of excitement.

Ewan kissed his wife softly, "Thank you so much….."

Sakura smiled softly.

" _In fact, I bet that in another version of reality; we're already married, we have four children and we live in a quiet house out in the wilderness with lots of room for the kids to play, friendly neighbours who look out for us and who we share our harvest with."_

 _A small snicker left Sakura, feeling her shoulders become lighter. "So we're farmers?"_

" _No, I'm a fishermen but we also own a plot of land that we use to grow potatoes and other vegetables-oh and we have four tree's that we planted for every child we have. Two are peach and the other two are cherry trees. We also have a large dog that keeps away all the pesky animals since we live so far out." Sinbad stated, as if he was speaking fact._

" _And four kids?" Sakura put her hand on her hips. "Really? I thought you didn't want kids."_

" _You swayed me." Sinbad shrugged, "Boy's for me, girls for you. We're still young, so we've got some time to get to eight."_

Sakura blinked away her tears quickly, feeling her heart pain when her chest suddenly filled with flames of emotion lit by her memories.

* * *

Sakura had to go to the academy for a parent-teacher conference. She sat in the office of Badr and Esra's headmaster, who was her teacher when she was younger. He was also the best man at Naruto's wedding.

"Iruka sensei." Sakura greeted, a middle aged man with dark eyes and brown hair tied up in a ponytail. He was sitting at a small coffee table, with only two chairs set out in front of him, meant for the parent-teacher conference.

Iruka rubbed the back of his head. "Come now Sakura, you're a grown women there's no need for you to still address me as sensei."

She shook her head vigorously, "Of course there is. You were still my teacher and no amount of aging is going to change that."

Letting out a hearty chuckle, Iruka linked his hands together. "Alright well, let's begin. Esra and Badr-

"Give me all the details Iruka sensei; those two are good at playing innocent." Sakura said, half joking, but she wasn't entirely. After all, they had been known to cause mischief together. She didn't know whether or not it was a twin thing, but despite being polar opposites, they were close.

"Don't worry. Those two aren't anything I can't handle." Iruka said, attempting to reassure Sakura as if he had already given her those 'details.' "I had Naruto, Shikamaru and Kiba in my class remember?"

"A little hard to forget." Sakura grimaced, thinking back to those days. They were regulars-as Iruka put them; ditching class; pulling pranks and causing trouble.

Iruka then proceeded to tell her on her children's progress at the academy; they had a bit of an upper hand on the other students since she had started training Badr and Esra from the time they were four.

Esra was the more diligent of the two, perhaps taking more after Sakura in terms of personality. She was academically brilliant but she didn't let herself fall short on her physical abilities either. In fact, her chakra control was so fine that at only eight she could use chakra to increase her physical.

Badr was a bit more adventurous, he preferred to do things at his own pace and in his how way, that didn't make him any less academically inclined. He was just as brilliant as his sister, but he didn't enjoy the conventional way and he didn't enjoy studying either. He preferred a more physical take on things. Which was why Sakura was somewhat thankful Badr didn't have the same level of charka control as his sister. He could do basics right now, but he couldn't use it the way Esra could; like increasing his strength. Although he did excel in taijutsu and Sakura had even taught him the sword play she had learned.

The amount of training it took to get them to this point however was far from easy though. Sakura trained them vigorously. Some of her friends had expressed their worry for her teaching methods not to mention the age she had decided to start this, but Sakura didn't regret not listening to them.

"Come on Iruka sensei." Sakura said, "What have they done so far?"

Iruka's lip twitched upward to a nervous half smile; this pinkette was very sharp. He had hoped to distract her with a good report but she could see through him. He showed her a document and placed it over their report cards. Turning the file to a specific page. Listing all of the incidents that had occurred since Badr and Esra joined the class.

Sakura read through the report, some of these she had already read since she had gotten complaints from some of the parents whose children were also attending the academy. On the first day, someone had called Esra's eyes creepy and she punched the boy across the playground-Sakura had to treat him for free as apology, although that was only after she made the parents make their boy apologise for teasing Esra. Then there was Badr who was falling asleep in class, setting clones in his place so that he could ditch. Then there was the time they had nearly started a fire-something she had heard before. And there was a flooding incident-

"Wait what?" Sakura exclaimed, looking at the papers "They flooded the fields? Why didn't I hear about this?"

Iruka laughed, "Yeah, I'm not too sure about that one. See the thing is, there was a flooding on account of a sprinkler pipe bursting-actually all of the sprinkler pipes bursting; Badr and Esra were there when it happened. They said they had nothing to do with it and since there was no actual evidence….

Sakura sighed, rubbing her eyes. "Those kids…so infuriating at times….just like him."

Iruka's ears perked, "Him? Sakura are you referring to-

Sakura jumped up, shaking her head. "Sorry, I'm babbling. Thank you Iruka sensei."

When Sakura left, Iruka watched her until her shadow was out of sight. There was so much about Sakura that had become a mystery now, he barely recognised her. Wondering what happened to that little pink haired girl who was always eager for a test but was hardly adequate in the field. With no hereditary trait like other children had to help them along. Now she not only had a power that was unique to her, but her children were one of the brightest he had taught.

It seemed that everyone had been so occupied with Naruto and Sasuke; they failed to truly notice the pinkette beside them.

* * *

Sakura came home carrying a bag of groceries for that night's dinner; she found Badr and Esra in the living room. Esra was reading and Badr was doing handstands push ups on the floor. Though they both stopped when they saw her walk in; rushing to greet her.

"So what did Iruka sensei say about us?" asked Badr, shifting his feet on the floor nervously.

Chuckling Sakura patted his head. "Oh, just what good students the two of you are…and something about a flooding?"

Badr and Esra grew tense, Sakura crossed her arms and held her position in front of them. "Is there something you two would like to tell me?"

After a quick glance in one another's direction, Badr replied, "It was probably just a problem with the plumbing. I mean we're not experts but that's just my opinion."

"Uh huh." Sakura raised her eyebrow, "Is that right Esra?"

Although Esra and Badr tended to cause a lot of trouble when they were together; Esra was more settled than her brother. She didn't usually create trouble of her own will; at least not on the same scale as Badr.

"It really wasn't us. We were only in the wrong place at the wrong time." The girl replied, her voice steady and calm. "The situation was circumstantial."

Sighing, Sakura leaned back. "Alright, if that's what you're both saying I'll believe it. Go wash up before dinner."

Sakura watched and listened to Badr and Esra's footsteps against the floor as they ran down the passage way, out of sight. The pinkette moved towards the kitchen, a sliver of doubt crossed her about her children telling the truth. It didn't seem possible for them to create a flood like that after all.

Sakura shook her head as she slipped on her apron, "I'm probably just looking into it too much."

* * *

Esra and Badr were leaning against the door of Esra's room, listening as Sakura moved about the kitchen, the clicking noise of metal from the pot, water running from the sink and the soft thud of the fridge and cupboards opening and closing. This may have seemed like insignificant, everyday noises but to Badr and Esra in this moment, it was a sign that their mother wasn't silently thinking about them.

"Good," Badr sighed, his shoulders slumped forward, while his sister slid down the door and landed in a sitting position on the floor. "I don't think she suspects anything."

Esra exhaled softly, "I can't believe Iruka-sensei told mom about that."

"I know; I really thought he believed us about it being a coincidence." Badr leaned his head back against the door, turning to Esra. "Maybe we should tell her the truth."

The response didn't surprise Badr in the slightest. "No."

"Come on Esra-

"No, we're not telling mom!"

Badr scoffed, throwing his hands behind his head, he went to open the door. "That's just like you. Mom thinks I'm the only one with problems, because you don't want to tell her anything."

Esra frowned, standing up and glaring at her brother. "She doesn't need to know. Mom's got enough to deal with. You should remember that before you do something to make things harder for her."

Snorting, Badr walked away. "Whatever; you're the one who's keeping secrets from her."

Esra stood quietly in her room. It was plane, white walls with a shelf stacked at full capacity with books, a desk right at her window, lined with plane green drapes, her bed tucked in the corner next to her cupboard and a dresser on the opposite side of the room. There was also a chest of all her old toys from over the years, a few were stacked on top of each other and around it because they couldn't fit. She wasn't really interested in them anymore; preferring books to anything else.

Going to her dresser mirror, Esra stared at the photo frames placed on it. There was a picture of the day, she and Badr were born. It had Sakura in a hospital bed, holding two tiny babies in her arms, her smile was weary, but her eyes were shining with happiness. Then there was one with Sakura, Badr and Esra in front of the academy for their first day, both of them were smiling with their mother's arms around their shoulders, crouched down. There was a third photo pasted on the top of her mirror, with Badr and Esra, standing in front of the house when they first moved in.

" _Mama?" Esra called, rubbing her tired eyes. She had just woken up from her nap, kicked awake thanks to her brother, who had no control of his limbs in his sleep. Usually Sakura was in between them to fend him off, but when Esra woke up, her mother wasn't there._

" _Are you sure about this Sakura?" Esra heard the distinct voice of her grandmother, Mebuki._

" _I am."_

" _It's a great expense you know?" Esra heard her grandfather, Kizashi say._

" _I've already been accepted for the loan and I'll be able to pay it off in a few years. I had this planned since before the twins were born."_

 _Carefully creeping down the short passage and stopping around the corner of the small apartment, Esra looked over in the living room area. She saw Sakura sitting in a chair in front of her parents, who were on the couch._

" _When did you do this?" Mebuki asked, surprised._

" _A few months ago after I found the place." The pinkette replied, because her back was facing from the entrance way, Esra couldn't see her mother's face. "I've taken care of everything. Don't worry."_

" _Sakura…." Kizashi trailed, his face softening._

" _Sakura, there's a lot more to consider when buying a house. You have two children."_

" _I have a babysitter for them already and finances aren't a problem either." Sakura promised, before sighing. "Everything is worked out. I won't do anything to jeopardize Badr and Esra's future in anyway."_

 _.._

 _.._

 _.._

 _Esra and Badr stared up in awe at the big house, standing on top of a hill overlooking Konoha. It was made of wood, painted in a pale blue with a green roof-they heard Sakura muttering about a new paint job. The yard hadn't been taken care of though; the grass had grown so high that Badr and Esra struggled to navigate their way to the house. Once inside, they saw that all of their belongings were already moved in, and just needed to be unpacked, but there were a lot of boxes-more than what they came with._

" _Wow, this place is big!" Badr exclaimed excitedly. His heavy, quick footsteps could be heard through the house as he ran through it, knocking into some of the boxes on his way._

" _Alright," Sakura clapped, "Badr be careful, I don't want you to break anything while I'm unpacking-_

 _There was a loud rattle, thud and then the distinct shattering of glass from down the hallway Badr ran through a second ago._

" _Owww…." Esra heard Badr start crying._

" _Oh Badr!" Sakura sighed, shaking her head before she rushed over to assess the damage that Badr had caused, to the house and himself._

 _Esra continued to silently look around the house, she peaked into the rooms, coming to a stop when she saw a room filled with all of her belongings and boxes. There was also some new furniture, including a bed, cupboards and a dresser. Esra looked ahead at the window, it was still bright up and she was able to see a lot of the Konoha's buildings in the distance._

" _I see you found your room, Esra." Sakura said; coming up behind Esra. She was holding a sniffling Badr in her arms and rubbing his back. "Badr, do you want to see yours?"_

 _Sakura started wiping Badr's tears, the four year old looked up at her nodding._

" _Alright."_

" _Wow, it's so big!" Badr exclaimed, looking around his new room. He wanted to start unpacking all of his toys immediately but Sakura told him not to until they were moved in properly._

" _Neh mama, what's this room for?" Badr asked, pointing to the empty room on the opposite side of the hall. There wasn't anything in it yet._

" _That's….for a friend." Sakura answered discretely._

 _After showing off the rooms, Sakura told Badr and Esra to settle somewhere, while she cleaned and unpacked. Sakura started in the kitchen, packing out all of the dishes and cleaning the sink, and stocking the cupboards and fridge so nothing would go off. She made a light lunch for the three, before she started again. With her strength, she was able to move all of the furniture around with ease to where she wanted it. A few hours after she finished packing and moving everything around, Sakura started cleaning the house._

 _The sun had long set and Sakura was still busy, settling the new house. She couldn't leave it for the next day because she had a shift at the hospital. Near midnight, Esra and Badr had woken up, to see Sakura still moving about the almost-moved-in house. Sakura had just finished sweeping; she tiredly wiped her forehead, dust splotches covered her clothes and face._

 _Badr and Esra walked up to her, "Mama…"_

 _Sakura looked behind to her children. "Hey, what's the matter?"_

" _We can't sleep." Badr said, pouting._

" _Why, did you have a nightmare?" Sakura asked softly, pulling a strange of hair behind her ear._

" _I don't like my room-it's too big." Esra said._

 _Sakura giggled softly, she lifted her children up in her arms and went to her room. "Okay, you can sleep with me okay?"_

" _Mmm!" Esra smiled._

" _Yes!"_

 _Before Esra and Badr were enlisted in the Academy; Sakura had been sure to train them thoroughly, so that they were more than prepared. However, the transition did not go the same for the twins. While Badr, was eccentrically charming and easily able to make friends; Esra was a bit withdrawn and timid in nature. So on their first day, Sakura was called in because Esra and Badr were involved in a fight with another student. Sakura had to go to the parents and personally apologise, of course she had the child do the same with Esra after hearing that he was the one who initiated the fight._

" _I'm sorry mama." Esra sobbed, trying to wipe her eyes._

" _It was his fault! Not Esra's though!" Badr defended._

" _I understand that Badr, but that doesn't mean that you should have threatened him with a kunai after your sister already punched him into a wall!" Sakura scolded. Badr puffed his cheeks and looked away, although he was trying to keep a strong face, Sakura could tell he was about to cry as well._

 _She sighed before she rested her hand on his head and smiled. "Good job sticking up for your little sister Badr. That was a great big brother thing to do."_

 _After sending Badr to his room, Sakura turned to Esra with a serious expression. Crouching down, she started to wipe away the girl's tears. "Now, now, it's over so no more tears okay baby."_

" _But-But," Esra sniffed heavily. "He said-mommy-he said my eyes were weird! Why do I have these eyes!? Why couldn't I get mamma's eyes like Badr! Everyone loves his eyes!"_

 _Sakura continued to wipe away her daughter's tears. "There. There. Don't listen to them. You have the most amazing eyes baby. And I absolutely love them."_

 _Esra hiccupped, peaking through her lashes with a vision blurred from tears; her throat dry and sore from her sobbing. "Re-Really?"_

 _Sakura nodded, "Of course and do you want to know why?"_

 _Esra nodded eagerly, waiting for her mother to answer._

 _Holding her hand on the side of her cheek, Sakura glanced from side to side before leaning towards Esra and speaking in a whisper. "You have your papa's eyes."_

 _It was the first time Esra had heard anything about their father from Sakura; usually no matter how many times they asked her she wouldn't tell them anything. Knowing this though, it made Esra love the colour of her eyes. Despite that it was meant to be a secret, Esra had told Badr about the little information that their mother had finally given her about their father. Back then, Esra and Badr were eager to know who he was. Giving that little bit of information seemed to do more harm than good though in the long run because Badr and Esra started to believe that they could bring their mother to tell them more about their father…._

 _One day in particular had changed Esra's opinion on the matter though._

" _Mamma, what's papa like?" Badr asked, walking over to their mother who was coming from the kitchen. She had set a pot of boiling tempura on the stove and had just finished mopping up the mess. When she came into the living room, Badr was the first to attack her. They had gone from doing this weekly to daily now. Badr and Esra would take turns attempting to coax their mother into giving them the information they yearned so desperately for._

" _Mmm, your papa?" Sakura asked, feeling weary having already gone through these questions twice this week._

" _Yeah!" Badr nodded eagerly. "We wanna know about him!"_

" _Well…." Sakura trailed softly, averting her eyes. "He looks like you two."_

" _Momma, you told us that already!" Badr pouted, throwing his arms up in the air. "We want to know other stuff about him!"_

" _I've got some work to finish right now Badr."_

" _You always say that!" Stomping his foot on the ground, Badr glared with pouting lips at his mother. "How come mamma never wants to tell us anything about papa!?"_

 _Sakura didn't respond and instead, went to grab the duster and started cleaning the living room, moving along from the curtains, to the couches and table. Esra sat on the mat, watching Badr as he glared at their mother._

 _The boy looked down, clenching his fists. "Is papa gone because he doesn't want us?"_

 _Sakura stopped; her hand frozen mid-air with the duster on the shelf._

 _Badr had tears in the corner of his eyes now, his hurt and anger reaching its boiling point, ready to fall over the top. "Is he gone because he doesn't care about us, mama? Did he abandon us?"_

" _Badr!?" Sakura exclaimed turning around to face her son. "Don't think such things!"_

 _Tears started to fall down the boy's cheeks as he face Sakura. Esra felt a small pain in her stomach; something that happen often when she was upset or nervous._

" _It's difficult to explain, okay baby." Sakura said, her face softening. "But he didn't abandon you-_

" _THEN WHY ISN'T HE HERE?" Badr asked, throwing his arms out, flailing them around. His head shaking wildly as he spoke. "No one ever tells us about our papa. Me and Esra want to know; why doesn't he want to see us!"_

 _Then Sakura said something that made Badr and Esra feel as if their hearts stopped for a second and all the blood in their bodies ceased to flow as a painful cold washed over them._

" _Because he doesn't know about you." Sakura confessed, starring right at Badr._

" _He-He doesn't know?" Badr asked in disbelief with wide eyes._

 _It had always been assumed by the twins that their father was at least aware of their existence and their mother telling them otherwise was really shocking to hear._

" _He-He doesn't know we were born?" Badr asked, his face turning red with anger, a fresh batch of tears falling down his plump cheeks, his eyes holding a glare as powerful as their mother could. "Why didn't you tell him mamma?"_

 _Sakura kept quiet; her eyes glazed with regret for revealing that much to them so early in their lives._

" _So it's mamma's fault we don't see papa?"_

 _Sakura's head shot up, she reached out towards the boy. "Badr-_

" _I HATE YOU MAMMA." The boy screamed, tears still running down his face as he turned away, with quick, pain filled footsteps he ran out of the living room. Through the passage way; it was possible to hear the front door being slammed open but never closed as Badr ran out._

" _Nii-nii!" Esra called after her brother, standing up with a plush bear. Going towards the entrance of their house. Esra saw Badr running down the hill. While Badr had no issues with running out and around the village at his age, Esra was very hesitant to go out on her own in case she got lost._

 _When Esra turned back, her light footsteps were barley a pattering on the wooden floors because Sakura obviously didn't notice her daughter's reappearance as she leaned against the wall on the other side off the living room, near the sliding door. She held her hands over her face, her shoulders were shaking and small sobs escaped her mouth that started to become louder._

 _Esra stared at her mother from around the corner. In her six years; she's never seen Sakura cry before._

" _I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Sakura continued to chant on repeat. When she lifted her head, Esra saw that her mother's emerald green eyes were completely glossed with tears falling down her face in big drops and Esra came to realize just how young her mother was in comparison to most of the other kids mother's she had seen. She recognised the vulnerability on Sakura's face and it caused a painful prick in her heart, making it harder for her to breathe._

Soon after, Esra had stopped asking questions about their father and gradually she started to lose interest in the thought of him all together. While Badr still tended to create a persona of him from his imagination; Esra wanted to forget that she had a father. It was then that she started to become more considerate of the situation as it finally dawned on her how difficult it must have been for Sakura. Which was why she did her best to abstain from causing her mother any grief. Badr on the other hand hadn't come to the same realization as his sister and still wanted to know more about his father. He even talked about finding a way to track him but Esra always shot down the idea, before he could bring it up to Sakura.

Looking in the mirror, reflecting her image, Esra's brushed her fingers along her eyelids, stopping right below them.

"I hate these eyes."

* * *

" _You must really hate me, for falling in love with you." Sinbad said, smiling distressed. "But I still hope that you will remember me, as the man who would have cherished you, if he had been given another chance."_

 _Glancing to his side, he reached into his pocket, pulling out something which made Sakura's breath hitch softly. He held out his palm to reveal a small black box. "It's a ring, very rare, actually one of a kind, in fact it even has a name…Tifl Malak. I wanted to give this to you at the opening ceremony but…."_

 _Sakura stared at the box, blinking quickly, her fingers curled towards her chest, quivering. When she spoke, her voice grew husky despite her attempts to keep it soft. She looked up at Sinbad. "I don't want a ring from you."_

" _Then don't think of it as a ring, don't think of it as…" Sinbad looked at the box and then back to Sakura. "You don't have to love me; you don't have to come back to me, but if you could wear this-If I know that you were wearing this-then even if you hate me…_

 _Sinbad tilted his head slightly to the side, a tear falling from his right eye and down his cheek that he leaned downward. "We'll be fine…I'll know you're out there."_

 _Rolling her bottom lip, scraping it with her teeth before looking down to the box. Sakura took it, careful not to allow her fingers to graze Sinbad's skin when she did. For a minute, she did nothing but eye the box, before swallowing and then opening it. There she saw it._

 _The casing was black gold, in a knot, with two diamond studs on the either side of a marquise shaped amethyst gem, which was thrice as large as the studs._

 _Sakura picked the ring from its position in the box and rolled it between her fingers, never daring to see how it would fit._

" _Tifl Malak huh?"_

 _Sinbad breathed out a laugh, "It actually means baby angel."_

 _Sakura smiled, looking at Sinbad with a hint of smugness, "You want me to call a ring, baby angel?"_

 _Sinbad didn't blink at what he stated next, smiling with serious eyes. "I want you, to be happy."_

 _Sniffing, Sakura put the ring back in the box. She took a step before she was in front of Sinbad. Her arms wrapped behind his neck, she leaned upward as he leaned down. Their eyes closing, as their lips brushed against each other like petals, soft yet worn. Sinbad got a hint of a metallic taste as he kissed Sakura, but he didn't stop. When they pulled away, breathing softly against one another, their chest rising and falling and in that moment as they stared into each other's eyes, they could see and feel that they were really breathing in sync._

" _I could never hate you."_

Golden eyes opened after being probed by the rays of sunlight gleaming through the thin drapes of one of the many wide windows lining the room. The covers shuffled above a large canopy bed, aligned with bright pattered curtains; sitting in the middle of a room that was just as accessorized, with heavy furniture that barely filled the room.

The material fell to the side, revealing a large form beneath the sheets. With a tired yawn, the figure stood up moving to the open drapes, feeling the sunlight on his bare skin with his long hair brushing along his back. He could see his reflection in the windowpanes, transparent through the glass. A tall man with tan skin and a muscular build, with loose, long purple hair and deep golden eyes staring back at him.

Sinbad sighed, rubbing his tired eyes as if it would erase that dream. The memory. More than ten years and he was still recalling that night, their final moments. One that he wished never happened; that he wished he could forget and yet at the same time he relished in it. Relished in the sweet warmth and bitter pain it brought him at the same time.

Opening the windows, Sinbad was met with an overview of a clear sky, the ocean in the distance, leading to land, a harbour and further up, smaller buildings tightly packed and then the clearing leading to the palace where he was currently situated. Everything seemed so radiant.

This was all his. His dream. His ambition since an adolescent. His kingdom Sindria.

'It was going to be ours….'

The double doors to the large room opened swiftly, almost violently. That was enough to break him from his thoughts.

"You're two hours late, how long do you plan on sleeping Sin!?"

In entered a young man with pale skin, freckles painted across his nose, short white hair and black eyes. He was wearing a long drape that covered his entire body, and a green keffiyeh on his head.

"Sorry Ja'far." Sinbad rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, putting on a cringed smile to hide his lingering emotions.

"Hurry up and get dressed!"

"Yeah, yeah," Sinbad snickered, stepping away from the window.

…

…

…

'Why have that dream now?'

 **That's it for now everyone but don't linger too far because the next chapter's coming up soon. In the meantime.**

 **DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW.**


	5. Present:Party crasher-hello little dove

**Surprise everyone; I know that this next chapter is early but I just couldn't wait to update it and my break is coming to an end soon so I want to get as many chapters up.**

 **Read and enjoy!**

* * *

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY ANGELS."

That was the greeting Badr and Esra woke up to at six in the morning, not the best time of the day to be enthusiastic for anything and they wouldn't have been if it wasn't for the sweet aroma of syrup, warm chocolate and baked batter that went along with the wakeup call.

The twins energetically ran into the kitchen, nearly tackling their mother in greeting. The way their table had been set, they could tell that Sakura had been up long before sunrise to stealthily prepare for their birthday breakfast.

Sakura had a habit for going the extra mile for her children when it came to their special day. She wanted to remind them over and over again that their happiness was the most important thing to her and that she would always be thankful for having them. Because of the Fourth Shinobi War and the rebuilding of the Leaf Village, Sakura wasn't there for Badr and Esra's first birthday and there was always a part of her that would think back and regret it, even though there wasn't much choice. There was a tearing between her duties as a kunoichi to her village and a mother to her children.

Since then, Sakura hasn't missed a single birthday and she refused to be taken away on a mission when it was her twin's special day-and no one dared attempt to either.

"Thanks mom," Esra said taking her seat, soon joined by Badr.

"This looks amazing." Badr licked his lips and rubbed his hand together in anticipation at the spread. The waffles, brownies, pancakes, parfait's, assortments of fruit salads. Sakura was always adamant when it came to their birthday breakfast; it was a great time consumer for her to make this spread that she knew they wouldn't be able to finish and ended up taking with them to school, but Sakura never really cut back. At least she had stopped with hash-browns and dinning plate-omelette.

Sakura's apron was covered in so many stains, the blossoms were barely visible anymore. She decided to get a head start on the baking for the celebration later today. Her friends had quite the appetites-especially Naruto.

"Okay you two; I want you back straight after school okay?" Sakura said, dusting off her hands.

"Yes."

* * *

After finishing their big breakfast, Esra and Badr were nearly out the door before their mother called them back. Sakura came at the entrance holding two small boxes wrapped neatly with bows.

"Don't forget your early birthday presents." Sakura told them.

Ever since Sakura caught the two constantly sneaking peaks at their birthday presents early ever year; she finally decided to compromise and negotiated in giving them one small present at the beginning of the day so that they wouldn't go sifting through the others. Since then, there had been no disruptions. The last time they sneaked a peak at their gifts, they ended up setting off a paper bomb that Lee had gotten them-after that she also had to have a meeting with her friends about what was considered an appropriate birthday present for a seven year old.

Matching silver feather, lockets with their pictures inside. Badr's locket had a recent picture of Esra and Sakura on either side of the frames, Esra's one had Badr and Sakura. The pictures were each taken from separate frames, they could tell from the lighting and background setting that was barely visible due to the close up.

"I've got one too." Sakura said; of course hers had recent pictures of Badr and Esra. "That way no matter where we are; we'll always have something to remind us of one another."

Badr grinned sheepishly, "That's kinda corny mom."

"Thanks, mom." Esra fastened the locket around her neck. She then moved to help Badr fasten his since he seemed to be struggling with it.

"Oh, I'm going to the market later, do you want anything?"

Esra shook her head, "No thanks, I'm good."

Badr turned his head, muttering so softly under his breath that Sakura couldn't hear him despite seeing his lips move "How about a dad…."

Elbowing her brother hard enough to knock half the wind out of him, Esra looked back at Sakura and gave a crooked smile. "Badr, says he wants some new throwing-stars."

"Alright," Sakura hugged and kissed her children goodbye before seeing them off. "Don't be late in getting back okay, if you're going off with friends at least be back by six. Everyone should be here by then."

"Okay!"

* * *

Once Sakura closed the door and was far back inside the house, Badr and Esra turned around but didn't make a move to walk towards the village just yet; a serious expression suddenly thrown on their faces.

"You shouldn't have done that, what if she heard you?" Esra hissed softly, glaring slightly at her brother. "She's our mom."

"I'm going to ask her today; she can't keep ducking the question like this." Badr replied evenly.

"You can't keep being this persistent Badr." Esra scolded, tightening her hand on her bags strap. "Mom always goes out of her way for our birthday and you keep trudging up a question she doesn't want to answer in return. It's not fair."

Badr clenched his jaw, his head lowering, covering his eyes with his bangs. "Not knowing about our father isn't fair either. To either of us Esra."

The two then made their way quietly to school.

* * *

Darkness fell over everything and there was only one unknown source of light that eliminated and simultaneously enhanced the enigmatic atmosphere. An uncountable number of people, dressed in white and ivory, clothes covering the face of both males and females. All gathered around in circles with an eight pointed star-lined with gold on the floor in the centre.

There was an unusual excitement in the air; like the ever growing eagerness of a starving animal finding its prey and wanting to pounce; yet they waited so as not to lose their unfortunate meal.

"It is time…

'It is time...

'It is time…

This echoed through the endless darkness, the voices never clashing or mumbling with one another, in perfect sync.

Steeping near the centre of the star, a male figure stepped forward, his face hidden behind a checkered mask and cloth, his long unruly green hair spilled down his shoulders. His voice was husky and heavy, giving impression to his age-contrary to his true condition.

"Everything is ready on my part, what about yours?"

A soft laugh barely echoed in the darkness, an empty sweetness that was like an addictive venom; the silhouette of a women, never stepping fully into the light; the top half of her face hidden, using her large sleeve of her robe to covered her mouth to a smile of blank joy.

"I have been ready for quite some time,' she stated, a hint of eagerness hitting the edge of her voice.

"Are you certain that this will work? It is the first time using it."

"Oh it shall. I believe I am due more praise than that Ithnan." The women hissed softly at the end before the tone returned to its previous affiliation.

Another voice from the crowd spoke, "Everything is finally falling into place."

Another women's voice echoed, not as smooth nor as sweet. "Soon, we will rain darkness on this world and deliver it from destiny."

"A will that Solomon himself cannot bend."

"This is all according to Al-Thamen's agenda."

The flicking sparks of whispers steadily ignited a roaring fire of echoes that would not surrender and turn to embers; chanting harmoniously.

"Al-Thamen, Al-Thamen, Al-Thamen, Al-Thamen, Al-Thamen."

Again a giggle dully sounded through,

"Little Dove….here I come."

* * *

A shiver ran down Sakura's spine as she turned around to face the empty presence she felt; there was nothing and yet the urge to turn around was like a ghosting prickle on the back of her neck. Sakura started to slowly mix the batter in the bowl she had cradled in her arms, turning back around, giving one last glance behind her.

'I could've sworn I heard….' She shook her head, 'No, it couldn't be.'

* * *

Later into the day, Sakura went to the market place for some last minute party preparations and gifts. She had a lot of last minute shopping on account of being busy most of the day at the hospital and then having to rush home to see to Badr and Esra.

After an intensive shopping session, Sakura carried several bags in both hands and lugged herself over to Ichiraku's for a quick bite. She wasn't a huge enthusiast of ramen compared to Naruto, but she could appreciate a bowl now and then. Especially during-what would; inevitably be a very draining long and tiring day

Sakura stood in front of the Ichiraku ramen restaurant; about to enter when a new voice caught her.

"Hey Sakura!"

A tall male with short spikey blonde hair that just couldn't be tamed, bright blue eyes and three marks on each cheek that looked like whiskers, topped off with the signature orange jacket, could only ever be one person. His right hand and arm were wrapped completely in bandages. Which covered a manoeuvrable prosthetic arm.

Sakura grinned, "Hey Naruto."

* * *

Sakura and Naruto sat opposite one another at the table in Ichiraku's, after ordering they went to catching up on the important and also irrelevant details of the times they had been apart. It hadn't been too long since the two had seen one another, but marriage and kids were placed on the top of their priorities list and both respected that. Since Sakura was the first to implement it; she was more than understanding of the circumstances.

"So how have you been?"

Sakura shrugged, "I'm good. Finally getting a break from missions."

"Hinata told me that you're still working at the hospital on your time off though."

"Yeah. I have to keep the income flowing." Sakura said half-jokingly.

When their orders arrived, Naruto didn't allow the steam to settle on the bowl before he broke apart his chopsticks and dived in. Watching her blonde friend, Sakura chuckled before she picked up some noodles between her chopsticks to scoop up some noodles and blew on it before delicately bringing it to her mouth.

Naruto said something while observing the pinkette, but his mouth was so full that it came out in nothing but small splashes of warm soup and sauce.

"Naruto, chew, swallow then talk." Sakura Instructed. "Honesty; all these years and you still don't seem to know where your mouth is."

After chewing and swallowing as Sakura ordered, Naruto said, "I don't get how you can eat ramen so slowly."

Sakura rolled her eyes, still smiling. "Not all of us can devour an entire bowl of boiling hot ramen faster than it took to cook it."

Naruto glanced at the bags stacked around Sakura, "You've been doing a lot of shopping. Last minute pick-ups for the kids?"

"Pretty much; no matter how long I try to plan ahead I always seem to forget something." Sakura replied with a bright smile. "I can't help binging when it comes to the two of them. Especially on their special day."

Naruto smiled; the conditions he found out about Sakura's pregnancy wasn't exactly make for the highlight of his day but better days had followed after. Sakura and Naruto had become a lot closer after he returned to the village. Sakura would always tell him that she missed him on his period away. For someone who didn't have family waiting for him when he came home, it was a really warm and welcomed feeling when Sakura gave him that kind of attention. What should have caused a rift, ended up bringing the two closer than ever before. Sakura use to come over to his apartment from time to time and help him clean it. She even use to cook for him. She comforted him during difficult times back then and defended him not to mention fought beside him in some of his hardest battles. They were still like that now, even if they spent less time together.

"Oh yeah, we're supposed to come over around six right?" Naruto asked, leaning back from the table.

Sakura nodded, "Yep, knowing Badr and Esra; they're going to hang out with their friends before coming home today. So that's why it's a little late, don't worry about dinner either. I'm taking care of that too."

"Alright!" Naruto exclaimed, pumping his fist in the air before Sakura asked him to settle down.

"Is Hinata with Boruto?" Sakura asked.

Naruto seemed to visibly deflate, his lips moving downward and his eyebrows furrowed. "Yeah; Hinata went to her dad's place for the day. Boruto's been kinda fussy, so Hanabi's going to be helping out with him. "

"It's normal for a baby to get like that at this age Naruto," Sakura raised her eyebrow. "What I don't understand is why the long face? Having a bit of father-son issues?"

"Guess you could say that," Naruto exhaled loudly. Boruto was beginning to display his own personality traits and character at his age; one of those traits seemed to be hardhead stubbornness. He refused to listen and did things the way he wanted to and on his own time. Hinata did a well enough job at handling their son, but Naruto on the other hand; he struggled to get their son's attention as he was constantly pinning after Hinata's. On top of that….

"Boruto barley looks at me, he acts like I'm a total stranger and he hasn't once called me papa or dada-nothing!" Naruto sounded so disheartened, it was as if he was delivering the worst kind of news that was applicable to everyone and would create an empathetic chain reaction. "He writes on the walls, ignores me when I tell him not to do something and shows me he's going to do it. He even glares at me!"

Sakura's loud laughing, wasn't what Naruto expected to hear when he looked up to the snickering pinkette who throwing a giggling fit, tears in the corner of her eyes.

"Oi, don't laugh!" Naruto blushed, embarrassed. "I am having a crisis here! He's already calling Hinata, 'mama' and only listens to her! The second she's out of sight he starts acting up."

Sakura's laughter increased as did her volume, although she did her best not to go higher than the respectable volume expectancy in a public restaurant. "N-Naruto, I don't think that's any reason to get upset. I think that just means you need to spend more time with him. Go out, take him to the park or something."

"Yeah, but I can't really do that." Naruto muttered, looking down with red cheeks. "The truth is, I haven't exactly been left alone with Boruto since he was born."

"Why?" Sakura asked as she calmed her breathing. It was comical the way Naruto was describing Boruto; he was basically describing himself.

"After seeing you; I know that kids need a lot of attention and careful watch. It's a lot of responsibility and you know what I'm like!"

Sakura nearly choked on her food at Naruto's blatant insult at himself. "Naruto, you are too hard on yourself. Sure you're more carefree than most people but that doesn't make you any less of a parent."

When Sakura saw the sullen expression on Naruto's face, another thought occurred. Naruto hardly ever became deterred; that was saying a lot about his strong character given what he has experienced and endured for years. From being an outcast by the village, earning everyone's respect and acknowledgement, making friends under those harsh circumstances; pursuing Sasuke; having an angry tailed-beast sealed inside of him….the list was long. Yet not matter how difficult things were; Naruto was always determined to make it through. So for something like this to have him looking so defeated…

"Okay, what's really going on with you?"

Another thing that Naruto couldn't place or believe was Sakura's sharpened skill at deciphering people, along with their true feelings.

"It's just finally really dawned on me that I'm a father."

Sakura frowned, shrugging her shoulders and craning her head back, holding her hands up in questioning manner. "And what exactly did you assume you were the last few years?"

Naruto shook his head, "I haven't had a dad to teach me anything about raising a child and….I'm worried that I won't be any good at this. It already doesn't look like Boruto likes me. What if it's because of something I'm doing wrong and I just can't see it?"

Sakura's face softened, reaching to the other side of the table, she grasped Naruto's left hand in her own, emitting a comforting warmth. "Listen Naruto; you're worrying yourself over nothing. Parenthood isn't something anyone really knows about until they actually have children. Their expectations are harshly altered then and it can be the breaking point for most. What's important is that you are determined to step up to the challenge. Believe me, no matter how much practice you have dealing with kids-when it comes to your own, it's a whole other matter."

Sakura was definitely speaking of experience then, she had watched Rurumu's children all the time, then there was still Ja'far, Masrur, Sharrkan and the former slave children from the company; but even after all that, she was still scared about taking care of her own children. She always tried to keep a brave face in front of everyone. The determination she had to maintain to make sure she raised her children in a manner that would ensure they were happy; it was not easy.

"Even I have doubts at times," Sakura admitted softly. "But parenthood isn't something we can turn away from just because things are difficult. A child's a lifetime commitment-it ends when our lives end. Simple as that. You've got plenty of years left with Boruto, just make them count."

"You're right, thanks Sakura," Naruto smiled; a familiar feeling of ease settled over him-yet another trait Sakura seemed to have gained. She had become the kind of person you could come to for advice for any problem and she would have the solution for you. It was another addition whose source was left anonymous.

Taking back her hand, Sakura moved a piece of hair hanging down her face behind her ear; a thoughtful expression on her face, as if she was revisiting a wonderful memory.

"The best advice I can give in your case Naruto; is be the kind of parent you needed as a child."

Sakura resumed eating, filling her entire mouth knowing that she wasn't going to be asked anymore questions on the matter. Naruto went back to eating as well, his heart filling with happiness along with his stomach.

'Thank you, Sakura.'

"Oh yeah, by the way, you haven't heard anything from Sasuke right?"

* * *

When Sakura returned home, she spent her next free hours cleaning up her house. Cleaning up her children's rooms, dusting off those neglected corners of the furniture and her house, followed by a stern sweeping and mopping. After a thorough tidying, Sakura began setting up the decorations for the celebration. Once completed, the rest of her day spent baking and cooking in the kitchen. The dozens of recipes she was taught and memorized from many months of lessons with Rurumu; all coming to life in the span of a few hours.

Sakura wiped her hands on her apron, futilely attempting to clean them from the layers of went flower and powdered sugar as well as the sticky residue of caramel, cream and chocolate.

This was the result of making a three tier cake, half flavoured chocolate which was Badr's favourite and the other vanilla, Esra's favourite. She had had written their names in strawberry flavoured icing, on the side that would 'belong' to them when they ate it; topping it with different kinds of fruits in a colourful, aesthetically appealing pattern.

Small things like these were what made her task as a mother a little harder; there were additions when having 'additions'. For instance, when sharing a room Badr liked to sleep with the light on and Esra the light off; Badr liked eating spicy foods and Esra could only stomach the mild and somewhat bland; Badr was wild from a young age and Esra was always the more tranquil, if not timid. While Esra could sit quietly for hours reading; Badr enjoyed playing outside, practicing his shuriken technique and swordplay; patience was a loose word in his vocabulary and hardly ever practiced. That was just a few of the many distinctions between the twins that defined them.

Sakura spent the years with her children, mentally recording each of her children's habits, speech patterns, behaviour, tells and so on. She enjoyed looking at all of that because she was keeping track of everything that remotely reminded her of Sinbad. Everything that they had genetically inherited from their father.

One of the main traits being, both had an incredible perception of things, they saw further than most children their age would, but Badr tended to use this gift to cause mischief. While Esra didn't do much of anything aside from applying this to her academics. It was easier for Sakura to differentiate the two; which was a good thing because she soon found Badr and Esra taking advantage of their similar appearances at times, using a simple transformation jutsu to change their eye colour and hair and no one would know the difference (so long as they never spoke).

Sakura also had different concerns and worries for both of her children. They were extremely close, regardless of their constant bickering, it was safe for Sakura to assume that they would always be there to take care of each other. They had their own little circle, exclusively for them alone.

Of course it was this that often tended to create a lot of hassle for Sakura; especially when they caused trouble together. Double trouble, often meant that there was a meaning and reason behind whatever offense they committed but it wasn't often they would reveal that reason and Sakura would usually leave them be.

'As long as they are together, everything will be fine.' That was how she always reassured herself when she was on missions.

A beam of light shone in Sakura's face, causing her to shut her eyes for a moment. She opened them again to a purple light, the rays from the sun reflecting off the amethyst jewel on the ring Sakura wore. A comforting reminder of her enigmatic past that would never touch her world. That was, aside from Badr and Esra.

'Another birthday goes by that you will never see huh Sinbad?'

Sakura hardly ever allowed herself to wonder what her life would have been like if she chose to remain with Sinbad; it would only lead her to think further and create a world that was not a reality in any dimension; causing her to yearn for it, driving her into a dark depression that she couldn't afford.

Not when she had them.

It was one of the reasons she had not told Badr and Esra about him either; what kind of reaction would they have? It was a frightening thought and one she did not want to make a reality. There were moments when they begged her that she wanted to tell them everything but would always remind herself that there would be more consequence in telling the truth than there would be in withholding it.

'I wish you could have seen them.' Sakura smiled sadly. 'What would you do? What would you say?'

Those were questions that would remained unanswered. The Looking Glass had retreated from its previous location; most likely on account of its owner which Sakura was grateful for and yet at the same time saddened that the only window she knew back was gone. Removing temptation and further motivating her to keep the truth of Badr and Esra's origins secret.

'No, they can never know.'

* * *

"Come on, I want to get home. Hurry up nii-nii!" Esra called. She always thought it a bit ironic that Badr was her older twin brother. She often joked about there being a mix up when Sakura had them; since she heard that their arrival had been rather early and henceforth surprising. So perhaps in the panic, they had somehow swapped the timeslots of the twin's arrival but Sakura always assured them that it was Badr who made his appearance first.

" _I was probably supposed to be born first, but Badr yanked me back by my cord."_

That often earned a hearty chuckle, even from those who already heard it.

"Don't tell me to hurry up; we're both late here!" Badr exclaimed.

"At least I took note of the time!" the girl shot back at her twin. "Now pick up the pace!"

They were going to miss their deadline at this rate, Sakura had told them she had no problem with them going out with friends after school but they had to be back at the set time.

Both Badr' and Esra's friends had come together to create a little celebration of their own for the Haruno siblings, they were showered with gifts, taken out for a picnic in the woods and then spent the rest of their time together playing games until they dropped. With everything, they lost track of time and everyone had to rush back home, but they were so far into the woods that they failed to take into account how long it would actually take to get back.

Hence Badr and Esra were now rushing through the village to get home.

The two were running through the market place, Konoha had been ever developing since the Fourth Shinobi war, in constant progression with technology. These were more peaceful times in comparison to a few recent years, of course it wasn't a period that either sibling could remember as they were still infants. Although Sakura would share her stories of the war and how it nearly resulted in the end of this world. It wasn't really a matter in history that Badr heeded much but Esra was always fascinated in the events of the past and would constantly question her mother about that time. It was one of the few things she was truly persistent in.

"I'm coming!" Badr grumbled, his feet picking up at a faster pace to keep up with his sister.

"Hey dad, can I get this one?"

"Sure champ."

The voices averted Badr's attention as well as his vision; of a man with a young boy propped on top of his shoulders. The shop owner in front of them handed the boy a mask, even though their backs were to him, Badr could tell that the boy was smiling brightly from his enthusiastic voice.

"Thanks dad!"

"Anything for my boy."

Perhaps it was the yearning pain that caused Badr to lose vision of everything else around him, but all that followed after was a physical pain from being knocked to the ground after colliding with something-someone. There was a groan before a soft thud. Rubbing the back of his head, Badr opened his eyes to see he had knocked over a man that was carrying a box. Falling out of it, dozens of necklaces, different shapes and colours that shimmered under the dim rays of the setting son.

"Oh!" he exclaimed, his face was covered by a brown cloak.

"I'm sorry about that!" Badr said, reaching out his hands to help him.

"What happened?" Esra asked running back over to Badr, observing the scatterings of jewellery on the floor. She glared at her brother, putting her hands on her hips. "What did you do?"

"I accidently ran into this man and knocked over his box," Badr said.

Esra started helping to pick up the fallen items; along with Badr and the mystery man. "Great Badr, now we're definitely passed curfew and mom's going to give us an earful for being late to our own birthday party."

"Maybe if you stopped your complaining and actually helped, we might not be, mini monster." Badr snapped back, trying to hide his embarrassment. Seeing through his persona, Esra just rolled her eyes and continued to pick up the items on the ground.

Badr smiled when they finally managed to put the last of the accessories in the box.

"Sorry about that." Badr said, smiling up at the man as he stood up.

"Yeah, my brother's kinda a ditz." Esra added. Badr picked her back causing her to yelp and glare at him in turn.

"Not at all, thank you for helping me retrieve them." the man said, his face remaining covered and his eyes showing no sign of a smile. "Here I have a gift for you."

He reached into the box, withdrawing his hand he held a black chain that lead down towards a small mirror, the glass had a purple tinge, and the frame was black, twisting like ivory vines but had a shine to it. Despite its ominous beauty, there was also a darkening feeling about it; something that didn't sit well with Esra. Especially when she heard some kind of fluttering; it was feint but it was also scratchy, almost distressed.

"Please take this as thanks for your help. No charge."

Esra held up her hand, shaking her head. "Oh no we couldn't possibly, it looks expensive."

"If sharing is a problem, you could offer it to one of your loved ones." The man proposed, still hold it forward, coaxing them to take it.

"I don't know…." Esra trailed unsurely.

Badr then chided in, "Oh come on Esra, this would make a great gift for mom."

The boy looked back to the man, accepting the necklace, he tucked it in his pocket. "Thanks, a lot."

"Badr!" Esra scolded, crossing her arms. "You ran into the guy, knocked him down and now you're taking things from him? Listen to me! It sounds like I'm describing a mugging."

"But he offered it!" Badr pointed out.

"Yeah, people also do that when they're being mugged." Esra stated. "Also, we're going against the basics."  
Badr's face scrunched in confusion. "What basics?"

"The first children's rule-do not take things from strangers!"

That wasn't the true reason for Esra's distress, she was honestly disturbed by the feeling of that necklace. It had an alluring temptation that drew her towards it and she didn't like that. Acting on impulse was what she attempted to separate herself from in most situations as opposed to her brother.

"What's the big deal, Esra?" Badr asked, raising an eyebrow as he held up the necklace. "Mom's always wearing jewellery like this, I'm sure she'll like it. Besides aren't you the one always lecturing me about appreciating mom more? Well this gift is as a means to show my appreciation."

Esra rolled her eyes and turned to apologise to the man, "I'm sorry sir but we couldn't possibly-huh?"

Looking around, there was no sign of the man who previously stood in front of the twins. Looking around the shopping district, there was no sign of anyone fitting the description of the male, despite that it was actually very quiet at the end of the day and not a lot of people; which made it nearly impossible to lose someone and there weren't any possible turns around corners to make for a good while.

"Where'd he go?" Esra asked, looking around again.

Badr shrugged and started walking away. "Let's get going, we really are late now."

...

…

…

….

….

From an Ariel view, overlooking the entire village of Konoha, a single figure stood above in the air, watching, his dark eyes shining in eagerness. Watching the two siblings race each other down the streets.

"Everything is in place."

* * *

"You're late," Sakura said, staring at the two familiar figures in front of her door.

"Sorry about that, but like you said, the role of Hokage comes first." Kakashi said, rubbing the back of his head with his free hand, his one occupied with two colourful bags, addressed to Badr and Esra.

Sakura laughed, "That I did."

"I want to go off record and say that it's' Kakashi's fault we're late because he was doing some last minute shopping." Tsunade pointed out to her former student as she walked in with the current Hokage.

"She didn't need to know that." Kakashi whispered.

"It's okay. Everyone else is here already."

There were a lot of familiar voices that could be caught the further they went into the house. Around the living room, dining room and kitchen area, there was all of Sakura's friends-well most of them. Those who didn't' have missions were Naruto, Hinata, Ino, Sai, Shikamaru, Temari and Sakura's parents, Kizashi and Mebuki.

Although there was a large spread across the table, no one dared to dig in just yet. Sakura was becoming impatient; understanding for the first ten minutes but after twenty, Sakura was losing that patience.

"Where are they?" Sakura murmured, looking at the clock sitting high on the wall in front of the television-a perfect way to keep track of her kid's bedtime and TV time.

"Calm down Sakura," Mebuki soothed her daughter, rubbing the side of her arm. "They'll be here soon. I'm sure."

Sakura sighed, it was a little hard for her to 'stay calm' when the sun was going to set in a few minutes and she didn't want her children out at night. The village didn't exactly have much of a crime rate, but that didn't make her feel any better about her children missing curfew. Especially if they didn't at least inform her.

"You know that Sakura's a total tyrant when it comes to rules and disciplining her kids." Shikamaru said; he was standing in a circle made with Naruto and Sai. If it had been anyone else Sakura would've taken offense but it was Shikamaru; always blatant and straight to the point. He hadn't changed much in personality or appearance.

"That's not exactly inaccurate. Maybe that's why they're late." Said Sakura's former teammate Sai. He was a bit pale with short black hair, his bangs framing his face and dark eyes (similarly to Sasuke); he was also one of the taller members of their group; next to Naruto. He wasn't the best at expressing his emotions; especially in the beginning when he, Sakura and Naruto and Yamato were placed together as a team, but eventually Naruto had cracked through the shell of Sai's fake smile. It was only a matter of time before everyone else brought out his real one.

"Hey!" Sakura puffed out her cheeks, turning red. "Just wait till Shikadai and Inojin are doing more than looking cute, getting hungry and needing a diaper change.'

Shikamaru grimaced, recalling the last time he had to change his son's diaper. "Even that's troublesome. For a number of reasons."

Temari came up behind and wacked her husband behind his head before walking over to Sakura. She glanced over at her son Shikadai who was playing on the living rooms carpet with Boruto and Inojin with a few of their toys. It was going to be an issue to gather those up.

"Why do you think they're so late?"

The pinkette sighed, tapping her forehead. "I'm guessing they went out with their friends and forgot about their curfew. It's happened before but I still don't like it."

Ino groaned, rubbing her exposed stomach. "I just want to eat already. I can smell all of those amazing dishes you made. I wish you would tell me the recipes already."

Sakura grinned widely, holding out two fingers in a peace sing, "Sorry Ino, that's a secret."

A secret from another world. All the recipes that Sakura brought back were from Rurumu's lessons. Thanks to her, Sakura had been turned into a gourmet chef and an expert housekeeper.

"Aw come on Forehead." Ino probed, using the pinkettes old nickname. "I've tried copying those recipes but I don't know the exact ingredients."

Sakura shook her head, "Not happening."

Ino puffed out her cheeks, before turning over to Hinata. "Hinata, help me out here. She might tell you."

Hinata gave a light snicker, "I've already tried."

"Same here." Chided Temari.

* * *

A few minutes passed before the front door could be head sliding open and heavy yet small patters of feet against the floor boards and the twins were seen in the hallway, running quickly over the entrance to the living room.

"We're home!" Badr and Esra called out, knowing that there were guests in the house.

"Happy Birthday!"

While everyone went to greet, and welcome the birthday twins, Sakura was standing on the side waiting for them to make their way through the crowd. When they reached her, Sakura had her arms crossed and hit jutted out in an intimidating manner.

"You're later." She deadpanned.

"We were rushing home but-

Sakura held up her hand, stopping Esra from giving any explanation and smiled, "Don't worry about it. It's your special day. So no repercussions. But if you ever miss curfew again; I'm implanting trackers."

She could see the way her children visibly deflate with heavy sighs of relief, the tension leaving their bodies. Sakura put her hands on top of their heads; ruffling her children's hair.

"Alright everyone, the birthday boy and girl are finally here let's eat."

That everyone was more than happy to comply with that notion.

* * *

Things became livelier the minute after Badr and Esra entered the house. It wasn't surprising that everyone had something to talk to them about. With the timing Sakura had the twins; everyone had the opportunity to become rather attached to them as they didn't have their own children at the time to fuss over. So by the time they reached adulthood, everyone was familiar with Badr and Esra and had already become attached to them.

After dinner, the lights were dimmed, and a pair of ten candles were lit and placed on the birthday cake for Badr and Esra. They both had their own set of candles to blow out with the conjoined cake.

"…..Happy Birthday to you!" Everyone finished off the song in a synchronistic, yet un-harmonic tune before eagerly waiting for the two to blow out their candles.

With puffed out cheeks, Sakura took a picture of her twins as they blew out the candles on their cake; followed by a round of applause from her friends and family.

"Alright, now it's time to check out your presents!" Naruto exclaimed eagerly rushing from the table.

Warm settled in Sakura's stomach as she happily viewed her children, they went to the corner of the living room where Sakura decided to put all of their gifts. They were eagerly starting to unwrap their gifts and also went to thanking everyone who got it for them.

Sakura sighed in content, watching the three before she turned to start cutting up the cake.

"You seem happy," Ino said, coming up to Sakura. "You're always like this on their birthday."

"Yeah, then the clock strikes midnight." Temari joked.

Sakura started placing the pieces of cake on saucers. She was soon joined by all of her female guests as they helped her distribute the cake while the men sat around Badr and Esra, watching them unwrap their gifts. Naruto, Shikamaru and Sai were also left to supervise their sons.

"Of course, this is the best day of the year for me." Sakura stated.

Tsunade grinned, looking over to the twins as they unwrapped their gifts. Tsunade was one of the first people to find out Sakura was pregnant and had to recall the girl from a mission she was out on with her team just to confirm it. That had been one of the most stress-filled weeks of her life. She had been hovering over the pinkette during that period of time; usually seeing to most of her check-ups at the hospital herself. Although being pregnant didn't stop Sakura from wanting to full fill her duties as a medical-ninja. And nearly immediately after the twins birth, Sakura was called back on duty-all on her own account.

"While it's wonderful that you're so devoted to your kids Sakura, I seriously think you need to get a boyfriend." Ino said in a matter of fact tone, causing the pinkette to choke on her own breath.

"Definitely." Stated Temari.

Mebuki nodded, "I agree."

Sakura gaped at her mother, blinking rapidly in shock. "Mom!"

"What? You're still young. You should go out and find a husband-not to mention a father for your children." Mebuki stated in a strict tone of voice.

Sakura rolled her eyes. It had taken some time but her parents had given up on trying to find out who was Esra and Badr's father. Although that was when Sakura was twenty one and it finally seemed to dawn on them that she was a marriageable age. They preferred not to chase after someone who wasn't around for the birth of their children (Of course Sakura had to correct her parents every time they made a disdained correlation to Sinbad, since they didn't know him she always stated that they shouldn't judge.) Of course that was easier said than done when your teenage daughter tells you she's pregnant and that there was no possible way for the father to be involved in his children's lives.

"They're not wrong Sakura. It'll make things a lot easier." Temari said. She glanced back from her chair to where her son was sitting near Shikamaru while they watched Badr and Esra open their presents. The boy had Shikamaru's unusually sharp pointed hair but Temari's turquoise coloured eyes. It didn't take long to figure out who he was going to resemble.

Although Temari was somewhat hoping for a differentiation personality wise between father and son.

"I do not want to date; I don't have the time and I'm not nearly that put together to handle a relationship right now. Lady Tsunade, a little help." Sakura somewhat pleaded with her former teacher and Hokage.

"Well Sakura; from what I hear, you've been confessed to before. You've just turned down everyone." Tsunade shrugged, pouring herself a cup of punch since Sakura refused to have alcohol anywhere on the dining table. She always seemed indifferent to drinking; even when she hit the legal age.

'Never drink and you never lose your head.'

That didn't stop her from taking a sip once in a while but that was on very rare occasions and could literally be counted on one hand how many times Sakura's ever had a drink in front of her friends.

Since returning, Sakura didn't drink all that much-at least in comparison to when she was a teenager and with Sinbad. There wasn't exactly a lot of time for you to get through a hangover when you had two young children in need of your attention from the minute you open your eyes in the morning, until you close them at night.

"I just don't have the time to be dating." Sakura argued, pouting now. Hinata gave a wry smile, patting her friend on the back to comfort her. She was the only one who wouldn't argue with Sakura about a matter like this. Even though she was leaning towards the other women's arguments.

"You've been living with Sasuke as well; I would've assumed you two were-

"We're not." Sakura deadpanned, stopping her mother from finishing that sentence. No one was really aware of her relationship with Sasuke. The Uchiha was known for keeping to himself and for being a stoic. By now, everyone knew that's just how Sasuke was but they were still surprised to find that he chose to live with the pinkette who once sought after his affection. But simply because it was Sasuke; many would find it believable if Sakura said there was nothing intimate between the two.

"Oh come on!" Ino lightly slammed her hands on the table. "We just don't want you to find a little bit of happiness for yourself Sakura."

Sakura shook her head. While love was endless, she couldn't let the love she had for Sinbad or Sasuke deteriorate even by a fraction that would allow her to find another. Not when she was reminded of Sinbad every time she looked at her children. And when Sasuke was able to return to the home that they shared, bringing back all those feelings.

"I already have." Sakura said, looking back to a family portrait hanging on the wall, followed by a long line of pictures taken over the years of Sakura and her children, from trips to the park with the twins playing on the swings, to the three dressed up in kimono's for a festival and the picture of the day Sakura had given birth.

"My children are the only source of happiness I need in this world."

Ino sighed, sounding defeated "We know, but I think you should also find yourself a companion."

Sakura rolled her eyes, smiling. "Yeah right."

"I'm serious Sakura, you don't know what you're missing." Ino insisted.

The pinkette then gave her friend a deadpan expression. "Hey, remember when I told you I was pregnant? And you got us thrown out of that restaurant?"

All the women around them had to hold back their laughs when Ino realised her mistake. She was about to protest when the doors opened.

"So why were you two so late anyway?" Shikamaru asked the twins as they admired their gift, Esra was paging through a new book Kakashi bought for her, the cover was decorated nicely in blue wrapping-covering the title and Badr was examining a newly crafted kunai knife.

"Our friends decided to pull together to celebrate our birthday and made a picnic party in the forest. We ended up playing a few games and lost track of time." Badr shrugged. "We were rushing home but-

"Long story short, it was Badr's fault." Esra stated, still reading through the first chapter of her book.

"Hey!" Badr lightly elbowed his sister before turning back to the group.

"I'd still like to know what happened that made you even later than Kakashi," Sai said. After all; the man was known for being late and having the most ludicrous excuses to justify his prolonged absences.

"I just accidently crashed into this man and knocked his things over, so we helped pick it up and he made conversation with us-we couldn't' turn him away." Badr replied.

"Again, all Badr's fault." Esra pointed again, her eyes eagerly screening through the pages.

The boy's eyes widened and he quickly stood up, "Oh yeah I forgot!"

Esra watched as he started digging into his pocket and suddenly remembered the gift they had gotten from the stranger. "Oh that."

"I can't believe we forgot about this." Badr said, pulling out the necklace from his pocket.

Sai, Naruto, Kakashi and Shikamaru leaned forward, observing the strange piece of jewellery. Badr told them that the man they ran into had given this to them and that they were planning on giving it to Sakura as a gift.

"That's an interesting design," Kakashi said. "It looks pretty pricey."

"And yet they got it for free." Shikamaru deadpanned. Although he was thinking about asking the twins later on more about the man-he might be able to get his anniversary gift for Temari.

"Let's go give it to her now!" Badr said running off towards the table.

"Badr, hold up!" Esra called, following after her brother.

The women were just about to head over to hand out the cake and drinks when Esra and Badr ran over to their mother. There was an unusual sparkle in their eyes and eagerness in their faces that made Sakura suspicious.

"Okay you two, what's up?" Sakura asked, curiously.

"We've got something for you mom." Badr said.

"Yeah…." Esra trailed still sounding unsure. "It's a necklace."

Sakura tilted her head to the side, leaning down to her children's height. Temari, Tsunade and Mebuki went to take the cake over to the others, Hinata and Ino were peering over Sakura's shoulder, still dishing. Ino was making a plate to take to her former teammate Choji when he came back from his mission.

"Oh, did they get you something Sakura?" Ino asked, coming over to the three, joined by Hinata.

"Well, it was actually given to us…kinda." Esra said with a wry smile. She didn't want to tell their mother that it felt a little forced on them or that it was giving her a strange feeling.

Esra and Badr glanced at one another, their eyes met as they would when having a conversation with someone, only no words left their mouths. They simply nodded before turning back to Sakura, Badr held out the necklace in his hand in front of his mother in offering.

Ino and Hinata gasped behind her.

"Oh how pretty!" Ino clapped.

"Yes, it's lovely." Hinata added.

Sakura on the other hand didn't say anything in praising the item. She seemed to visibly grow stiff, the colour draining from her face and her eyes wide, shaking with strain as they still attempted to go further.

She could hear it.

The distressed fluttering.

"Mom….?" Badr called.

She couldn't believe it; despite the change in aesthetics; the sensation was nearly the same as before but there was also something unsettling about this. There was no doubt about it though; that same pull she experienced from before when she found the mirror. That temptation to touch it. Sakura didn't realize she had been holding her breath, until she finally inhaled sharply.

"Where….?" She began softly

"Huh?"

"WHERE DID YOU GET THAT THING?"

There was no time for anyone to ask Sakura what was wrong, as much as they wanted to, or for Badr and Esra to answer their mother's question in her distressed state because something happened at that very moment. A dark light emitted, the air around everyone grew heavy and it did not go unnoticed by anyone in the house. The light only grew, flashing brightly enough it temporarily rendered everyone sightless before it finally dimmed, allowing them to open their eyes again, but it only became clear then that the situation and atmosphere was changing for the worse.

"WHAT'S GOING ON?" Naruto asked loudly.

"I DON'T KNOW." Temari screamed, picking up Shikadai and moving Boruto and Inojin to stand behind her, away from whatever was to appear.

Sakura heard it again, the familiar fluttering, of those golden birds known as Rukh, but these were sharper flutters and it did not give the same content feeling she would often get from regular Rukh. Black rukh, that's what she saw when she opened her eyes.

It was forming around another dark light, a whirl wind of blackness that began to vanish, a silhouette barely clear.

"What is that!?" Ino asked, barely able to open her eyes.

"Kuu, kuu….oh it's been so long."

A cold shiver ran straight down Sakura's spine, she spread her arms further to gather her children behind her to shield them on instinct. That sickly sweet voice she was all too familiar with, even though it had been so long since she last heard it.

"It can't be…." Sakura swallowed hard, feeling like she was being choked.

On the other side, Naruto, Sai, Kakashi, Temari, Shikamaru, Kizashi, Mebuki and Tsunade were watching as well; just as surprised as shocked as Sakura was, more unaware.

"What the hell is going on!?" Shikamaru exclaimed.

As the black rukh cleared, Sakura's fears were realised as she came to see the face of a women with long blue hair, dark blue eyes, pale skin that same beauty spot on her chin. Despite the years that passed; it didn't look like she had aged a day.

"Gy-Gyokuen." Sakura gasped out.

Sakura's mind was drowning with questions, but her usually brilliant analytical mind was unable to process any of them verbally. How was Gyokuen of all people here, in this world? How did she get here? And why did Sakura see such sinister rukh around her so strongly, it was as if she had dark intents that made them this wild.

A wide grin, filled with a kind of madness and extremely pleased; that was what Gyokuen gave to Sakura when she saw her.

"Hello little dove. My you've certainly grown."

That old nickname made her turn rigid, as stiff as wood. She attempted to back further away, only to find that there was no longer anywhere to move because she had been confined in a space, with Badr, Esra, Hinata and Ino as well. There was a near clear sphere that they were all surrounded in, only it had a tinge of black to it. It reminded Sakura of a magical shield magicians used, known as borgs.

"I wouldn't bother little dove; if you attempt to break through that on the inside or out." Gyokuen glanced over at Sakura's friends on the other side of the room, as if warning them. "It will destroy anything inside of it."

"Who the hell are you!?" Tsunade demanded in a stern voice, clenching her fists.

Gyokuen's eyes loomed around, in a carless manner as if she was invited into Sakura's home. "What a lovely little nest you've made here. Ah-and of course, you have your own little chicks too!" Gyokuen's eyes fell on the twins hiding behind their mother, confused and also scared for the same reason the three women were.

"Mom, who is that?" Badr asked, but Sakura did not answer, hardly blinking so as to keep her eyes on Gyokuen.

Naruto and the others, had no clue as to what was taking place right now; but they knew this much. The women in front of them was no ally. The women had barely glanced their way but they were worried because of the scared expression on Sakura's face. That was true terror that they had not seen before.

"You, who are you!? What do you think you're doing to my daughter!?" Mebuki shouted at the women.

Gyokuen didn't even acknowledge to hearing the question in demand as she kept her gaze fixated on Sakura. Naruto, Kakashi, Sai, Temari, Tsunade and Shikamaru exchanged quick gazes of consent for what would happen next.

"Shikamaru!" Kakashi exclaimed.

The man in call, put his hands together forming a ninjutsu sign, his shadow emitting on the wall grew smaller and started moving on its own, towards the women in question. This jutsu was best in the field of retrieval missions on account of capturing ninja through their shadow and that's what they intended to do with this women; but when the shadow snaked its way towards Gyokuen, Shikamaru stopped.

"There's no shadow!"

"What?!"

"How can that be?" Kakashi asked looking back to the women. Deciding to leave the details for late, Kakashi chose to step in then.

"You," Kakashi called and this time Gyokuen turned her head to the side in order to face them. Kakashi lifted up the covering on the side of his face on his eye, revealing his Sharingan. He attempted to put Gyokuen under genjutsu; a hallucination technique that would knock her unconscious and hopefully free Sakura, Ino, Hinata, Esra and Badr from that confinement. They already knew not to try to break through it on their own in case of risking the lives of those inside of it.

However as the black comma's spun around Kakashi's sclera; Gyokuen was still standing. Her expression appearing indifferent as she stared at the silver haired male.

"I'm afraid that little eye-trick of yours won't work on me." Gyokuen stated. Although she was yet to reveal how.

"How are you here?" Sakura shuffled Badr and Esra behind her back, her face hardening. "It shouldn't be possible!"

Gyokuen laughed softly, gently holding her face. Sakura clenched her jaw, Gyokuen started stepping forward and with each step she took, Sakura took one back.

"Little dove, I can't physically appear in this world just yet. Right now, I am merely a projection of thought, coming to you from another location." Gyokuen said coming to a halt. "I just came to make sure your departure went well."

Sakura frowned, holding the urge to back further away. "Departure….What exactly are you getting at!?"

Shikamaru looked back and forth between Sakura and the women whom Sakura called Gyokuen. It was obvious that the two knew each other, but how didn't seem like it would be coming up in the conversation.

Naruto spoke softly, leaning forward slightly, "I'll get them-

"Don't Naruto." Shikamaru said, holding up his arm to stop the young male. "You heard what she said, we can't attack her because she's not actually here and that sphere they're trapped in can't be randomly tampered with unless we want to risk their lives."

Sai was frowning deeply, "If that's true then we can't do anything!"

Kakashi then looked at Sakura, Hinata, Ino, Badr and Esra who were trapped in the barrier and whispered to them. "I'm going to use Kamui to get them out of there."

Kakashi's sharingan eye began to spiral, the commas conjoined, the Mangekyo Sharingan's appearing. Using Kamui, Kakashi attempted to transport their trapped friends from within that sphere, but nothing happened again.

"What the…?" Kakashi frowned "It's not working."

"What!" Sai exclaimed, gritting his teeth.

"There has to be something else we can do!" Naruto exclaimed frustrated.

Shikamaru gritted his teeth; frowning deeply at the situation. He was often great at forming plans and tactics but this situation was completely out of the ordinary. He had now knowledge prior to any of this women's abilities.

'Dammit'

Gyokuen then stated offhandedly, "You know, everyone still misses you little dove. My beloved Hakuei had developed such an admiration she's conquered a dungeon and became a king's candidate herself."

Sakura's jaw clenched, loosening only for her speak after swallowing her fear. "I'm sick of this game Gyokuen. What the hell do you want with me?"

"Oh it's not just what I want with you; little dove." Gyokuen said, she tilted her head to the side, feigning an expression of nativity. "It's what Al-Thamen wants."

Sakura inhaled sharply; she recalled being told once about the organization. Sakura glared sharply at the women as another realization dawned on her.

"Ah, so you do remember!"

"Falan…She's also-

"That's correct," Gyokuen snickered, covering her mouth. "See little dove, after you escaped from Kou, I was supposed to leave you and that singularity in Falan's hands. Until you created a hajin. We weren't counting on you leaving or I would've destroyed that mirror while it was still in Kouen's possession."

The 'singularity' was an obvious reference to one person; Sakura felt her blood boiling now; there was a lot that Sakura was beginning to place. "So you knew all along."

"Of course! Why do you think, I so earnestly turned you to my Hakuyuu? Of course, your preference fell towards the singularity instead." Gyokuen looked at the golden ring hanging around Sakura's neck. Gyokuen sighed softly, putting her hand under her chin; a malicious smile appearing on her face. "So I'm going to return you to him!"

Something started happening to the barrier around the five girls and children, it was started to shrink, caging them in further and it was growing darker, obscuring their sight.

"What's happening!?" Ino screeched, looking around frantically, along with Hinata.

Pointing a slim finger at the three, Gyokuen's smile boarded and Sakura saw a kind of black, void look in her eyes. "I'll see you soon; little dove."

The black rukh started to swarm around Sakura, Badr, Hinata, Esra and Ino. They all got the feeling of being pulled in by some powerful force, their bodies shifting against their will and darkness overcoming their vision. They heard their friends and spouses calling their names in distress and then-silence.

Everything was quiet.

Sakura's home that was filled with a festive atmosphere and joyous banter one moment; had fallen to an eerie dead silence. Dread growing in the remaining individuals in that house. Naruto and Sai stared quietly at the spot they had watched their wife and friends vanish into thin air. Kakashi and Tsunade were looking about for any sign of the women who was previously there.

"They're….gone." Shikamaru breathed.

"INO"

"HINATA"

"SAKURA"

 **That's it for now. I'll be working on the next chapter as soon as possible. Till next time!**

 **DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW.**


	6. The Past:News of unexpectedly expecting

**Well here's the next chapter everyone. I want to say thank you for all the reviews that I have received thus far. I also want to note that I am going back to university once again and have been putting off my assignments on account of updating this story, so in the following week, I may not be able to update anything for a while. But I will try and update the next chapter of this story before I go back.**

 **READ AND ENJOY.**

When Sakura returned to her world, she was disoriented at times but overall content. She was prepared to change her world. But she soon found that there were times when you were grabbed by the element of surprise. It would've been fine, if it was coming from her world; but when it came from another it was a completely different matter for Sakura and now it had occurred twice. The second being Gyokuen appearing before her after all these years and the first time; after she found out she was pregnant…..

* * *

After returning to Konoha, Sakura immediately informed Tsunade about what Sasori had told her about the spy sent to investigate Orochimaru and the meeting at the Heaven and Earth Bridge in the Hidden Grass. Although these seemed like excellent leads to finding Sasuke, but there was a problem; Kakashi was now incapacitated due to overusing his Sharingan. So they were short on teammates. There was also another issue that Sakura didn't mention…

'There's no way, there's no way…'

Sakura headed to Konoha hospital. Still denying that it was pregnancy causing her body to react this way. A blood test was the best way to determine a person's health status.

'This'll prove I'm not pregnant.' Sakura told herself. Still believing that it was something else.

Sakura sat in a chair, as the nurse stuck the small needle into a vein in in her arm without a flinch; she watched as the thin tube attached turned red as her blood was drained.

"Um, Miss Haruno," the nurse addressed, a creased expression on her face "Are you unwell?"

"Of course not," Sakura assured the nurse with a small smile, she had been working in the hospital for a while now and had become very well acquainted with most of the staff. As she was the youngest there along with Ino; the girls were often monitored.

Although Sakura knew that if she told the nurse that she was feeling in anyway unusual; then Tsunade would be alerted and that women was like a mother and as a mother there was a chance she might consider withdrawing Sakura from the mission if she found something wrong with her.

'I don't even know what's wrong with me yet, so why alert her?' she figured.

"This is just to check the effects of an antidote I created on my mission,"

Once the nurse drew the blood into a vile, she presented it to Sakura as she requested to check the results herself; since she was more than qualified for it.

"Alright, here you go Miss Haruno."

"Thank you," Sakura took the vile with her name written on it and left in a hasty manner.

* * *

After Sakura's check-up; she went to the research lab in the hospital wing. There was no one there at the moment and she was able to finish a Complete Blood Count procedure within an hour and half. A CBC was able to determine if there were any increase or decreases in the cell blood count. Sakura had done this procedure on herself before, so she was going to compare the current results with her previous. As a medic, she had become strict concerning her own health and was thorough.

But when the results came back and Sakura compared them, she found that there was nothing out of the ordinary and from her physical. Everything was perfectly normal.

" _This is certainly an effort for your health," said Sitri_

"Better safe than sorry right?" Sakura said, she leaned back against the chair at the desk; so it wasn't any sickness which was something to be grateful for but that also cleared way for more worry and dread to fill her.

" _Speaking of better safe than sorry…" Gaap trailed_

Sakura frowned, 'Gaap don't you dare bring that up again.'

" _I'm just saying!" Gaap exclaimed. "You cannot keep denying, at least confirm it for yourself!"_

Sighing, Sakura rubbed the back of her head, a sickening feeling twisting in her gut. Those usually indicated premenstrual syndrome but it had been going on for a while now, then there was the addition of her sensitivity to certain smells and food aversions, the headaches; plus thinking back to the last time….

 _Sakura started shivering when she felt his lips brush across her neck and his hands moving to locations that was going to end her relaxing massage and turn into something more._

" _Cut it out." Sakura warned, "It's not safe."_

 _Sinbad paused, "New moon?"_

" _Full moon." Sakura corrected._

 _..._

 _..._

 _..._

 _..._

 _Sinbad moved back up, he moved his arms to push up on either side of Sakura's head, his face hovering over hers now. As they stared at one another, breathing as quietly as they could, neither daring to blink they clarified their understanding without the need of verbal confirmation. That this-was it. That they would take this final moment and grip it tightly with both hands, as firmly as they wanted and that eventually they would allow the inevitable…_

 _And let go together._

 _..._

 _..._

 _..._

" _Nothing has changed out there." Sakura sniffed, turning away from the mirror, she put her hand over her chest, feeling her own heartbeat. "But in here…."_

" _Yes." Yunan's eyes softened. "What has been gained from that world, will not be reversed."_

"Oh my…." Sakura held a hand to her mouth, her eyes glossed over in realization as a wave of nausea hit her hard. She felt her stomach clench and something thick pushing up her throat and out of her mouth. Pushing up from the chair so hard it fell over on the tiled floor, Sakura rushed to the nearest sink that was meant for washing hands and equipment.

" _Are you alright my king?" asked Beleth alarmed_

She removed her hand to allow the contents of everything she had eaten that day to empty itself through the drain. She turned on the water to help the thick batch run down easier as she felt another involuntary clenching in her stomach had her repeating the process.

" _Cleary she's not!" Orias exclaimed._

Resting a hand over her stomach, Sakura glanced up at herself in the small mirror with watery eyes filled with shock and disbelief, "It can't be..."

A quantitative human chronic gonadotropin (hCG) blood test, measures the level of hCG hormone that is produced by the cells in a developing placenta. It was possible to evaluate and manage certain types of cancer with this kind of blood test but its main purpose was to determine the appropriate age of a featus.

Staring at the paper in front of her, showing her levels of hCG which were high at this point. She slipped down on her knees, feeling the cold tiles under her skin. Sakura clutched the paper tightly to her chest. A sickening twist filled her stomach as her mind felt like it had just collided with a hammer.

Disbelief filled her mind, yet at the same time she denied that she didn't know. She knew and it was clear who the father was. It was as if everything had finally sunk in at that moment and Sakura's walls of denial were broken through; tears started to stream down her face.

"I'm….pregnant."

Her hand fell over her current (temporarily) flat stomach. A child from the man who cherished her, who cared for her; who nearly destroyed her. The man she loved; and whom she would never see again. The rings were in her line of vision from her position, kneeling on the ground. The amethyst gem reflecting the light in a purple hue.

"Sinbad…." Sakura started to cry softly.

* * *

A message came for Sakura and Naruto later that day, to arrive at a certain location in Konoha where they would be meeting their two new teammates. Despite her current state of mind and wanting to simply remain in her room, Sakura understood that there was still a mission to accomplish. One that would bring them closer to Sasuke. She also didn't want anyone to become suspicious of her behavior.

After a quick shower, Sakura went to the secluded area behind one of the buildings of Konoha. Which was the meeting place. That was also enough to temporarily distract her from her nerves. Despite her djinn's protests in staying to allow herself more time to come to terms with her condition, Sakura refused. At least like this; she would be able to forget a bit about the overwhelming situation.

"Sakura!" Naruto appeared came running up to the pinkette, turning his head back and forth. His face contorted in confusion. "Is this where we're supposed to meet?"

With a strained smile, she nodded "I'm sure."

"No one's here yet," the blonde haired ninja continued to look around

"We're just a little early. Have some patience."

Sakura felt her stomach give a painful clench and erupt in several rumbles. After coughing up everything she ate not too long ago, she was quite famished and she didn't have the urge to eat due to shock.

Apparently Naruto heard her stomach as well.

"Wow, Sakura. Didn't you eat?"

A light blush dusted her cheeks as she placed her hands over her stomach. Which suddenly felt bloated to her. "I haven't had anything for a while. Want to go grab something after the meeting?"

Naruto's eyes sparkled, "You mean like a date?"

She giggle; there was that over enthusiastic behavior. He was the only one to ever show her any affection on team seven in their genin years. Sure there was Kakashi-sensei, but he treated all of them that way. She spent most of her time trying to get Sasuke's attention and ignoring his. She only realized how much she missed him when he was gone and even more so when the prospect of never being able to see him was probable.

"No Naruto, we're just going out as friends." Sakura's face softened. She wondered what kind of reaction he would have when he discovered the truth.

Sakura turned her head, when she felt a presence directly behind her. Someone walked out of the shadows of the building hall and into the light. It was a boy about their age; he was lean and tall, with pale skin and short dark hair and dark eyes. He wore a dark grey top that was cut off, showing his torso and grey pants. These features put together made him look a lot like their former teammate Sasuke.

"Hello," he greeted, smiling mechanically at the two.

Naruto glared back at the mysterious boy; knowingly as if they had met before and it did not go well. Then a second figure appeared, an older man with short brown hair and dark eyes, he was wearing typical ninja attire with the headband.

'Great, literally not even a minute and I can already see issues with this team.' Sakura thought, her sweat dropped on the side of her head.

" _Our king just can't catch a break." Beleth said sighing._

" _I think her teammates are the least of her problems." Orias said._

"You've met him before Naruto?" Sakura asked, watching her blonde friend get further riled. He then told Sakura about how this person had attacked him while he was with Shikamaru and Choji.

Naruto slid a kunai from under his sleeve and held a battle stance, while the other boy grabbed the hilt of his weapon from behind his back; all while keeping an artificial smile.

"That's enough Naruto," the older man interjected.

Naruto looked at him in confusion, "Who are you?"

"I am acting as the team's interim captain while Kakashi-san is in the hospital. Please call me Yamato." He then stepped forward into the sun, "Since you guys are on the same team, it'll cause a lot of problems if you don't get along."

Naruto's mouth fell open in disbelief "Same team…as him?"

He spoke as if he had just lost a win-it-all-lose-it-all bet and lost.

"I'm sorry about before. I wanted to know how strong you were, since we're on the same team."

This guy was exceptionally artificial in his behavior; Sakura noticed it the second she saw him smile at them; it was as though he didn't know how to. It was the same for the way he spoke. The tone of his voice, it held nothing but emptiness, yet he laced it with a kind of rhythm.

Naruto slipped the kunai back in his sleeve, "You didn't have to go that far."

"Thanks to our little encounter, I learned you're a useless, dickless pantywaist."

'Uh oh,' Sakura quickly maneuvered behind Naruto and grabbed him from under his arms to hold him back from killing their teammate.

"Naruto; calm down please." Sakura said frowning; she didn't blame him for getting angry, but he did have a habit of attacking anyone that persecuted him verbally. "You heard what Captain Yamato said about us getting along." She then turned back to their new teammate, "And you shouldn't insult people the first time you meet them. If you keep doing things like that, you'll find yourself alone."

He continued to keep his plaster smile when he spoke, "Oh? But I really like ugly bitches like you."

Naruto stiffened under the pinkettes hold, waiting for her to give a big outburst and attempt to murder him; instead he heard a soft sigh. "Well, I'm sorry if I'm being unpleasant but my attitude is based on my converse's current personality; which you seem to be lacking."

"Oh?"

Yamato, realizing that the conversation between the three probably wasn't going to take a turn for the better; decided to step in. "Anyway; the four of us will start our mission soon…And well we're not going to have many chances to get to know each other. So introduce yourselves."

Scoffing softly, with his arms behind his head Naruto introduced himself, "Naruto Uzumaki."

Releasing Naruto from her grip, Sakura bowed her head slightly. "Sakura Haruno."

"My name is Sai." The boy replied, still smiling.

After the brief introductions Yamato went straight into their mission details. They were to go to the Heaven and Earth Bridge to capture the Akatsuki spy working under Orochimaru. He then sent them to prepare for their mission, as they would be leaving in an hour.

* * *

'Oh what am I going to do?' Sakura thought as she continued to pack her things together; her djinns all secured on her. Sitri's metal vessel secured to her top, Stolas's around her arm, Gaap strapped to her waist and of course Beleth tight on top of her head.

" _My king, is it really wise to be going on this mission in your condition?" asked Stolas_

" _Of course it isn't." Orias stated. "You shouldn't ask such questions, it'll have her create excuses to go."_

Sakura's eyes hardened, she glanced at her stomach. Two months; that's how far along she was and normally a women would be put on maternity leave a month before she was due and then get another three to look after the baby. However; when you had a career as a ninja that was a completely different matter. Which is why Sakura had no intention of telling Tsunade or anyone else about her being pregnant.

She quickly wiped her tears away, realizing the emotional turmoil this was going to cause. She was in such a shocked state, that she nearly forgot to put her test results away with her file; if someone saw it lying around then she'd be pulled from the mission.

"I won't be reckless," Sakura told herself "And when I get back from this mission, I'll tell my parents and Tsunade."

" _This is reckless my king." Sitri warned. "The pregnancy is having an effect on your body; it weakens you."_

"I'm aware Sitri." Sakura said as she tightened her headband.

" _You physical condition also alters your djinn equip and ability to control it." Stolas added. "It will take a great toll on you."_

"I figured." Sakura hissed.

* * *

Setting on the long dirt road, through the forest and out of Konoha's gates. The newly formed team were off to a silent start. They managed to make it for a few minutes without anyone getting agitated. However; Naruto hadn't stopped glaring at Sai since they left the village and it seemed that he finally caught on and confronted Naruto.

"Please stop staring at me like that," said Sai, his smile vanished from his face leaving nothing behind, "Or I'll have to smack you."

Naruto clenched his fists, narrowing his eyes at Sai "Every time you open your mouth you piss me off!"

Sakura stood a safe distance from the two boys as they continued their spat. Sai saying that he was only acting as he was to portray a certain kind of personality. That it wasn't anything personal.

Although Naruto only seemed to be further irritated by the statement. "You don't belong on this team!"

The tension seemed to form a barrier that stopped everyone from proceeding any further down the road. Yamato attempted to remedy the situation before it got out of hand; reminding them of the importance of teamwork and the philosophy that Kakashi had implanted in them about it. Though Naruto just pointed an accusing finger at Sai and exclaimed that he was not a part of Team Kakashi and that the other member was none other than Sasuke Uchiha.

"This guy was only chosen to fill in the gap that Sasuke left." Naruto stated "I refuse to accept him as a teammate!"

Sai responded with a smile, placing his hand on his hip "That suites me just fine. Betraying Konoha….running off to serve Orochimaru….Don't put me in the same group….as that gutless little homo."

Now Naruto really appeared to be on the verge of killing Sai; he was about to charge right at him when a hand landed in front of his face stopping him. It was Sakura's.

"We do need to put teamwork first," she stated, her face holding all seriousness. "Sai, Naruto still doesn't know much about you and he went too far," she lowered her hand, "Please forgive Naruto."

Yamato sighed in relief, realizing that at least one of them was clear headed. Sai only smiled back at her, "No problem. Apology accepted."

With that Sakura was in front of Sai, thrusting her fist forward before she hit him square in his jaw and watched as he flew back, skidding across the dirt. She then straightened herself, a blank expression on her face. "I on the other hand, don't care if you forgive me."

Sai wiped the side of his mouth where he felt a trickle of blood, "You tricked me, with that fake smile of yours."

"You shouldn't talk down about someone; unless you know them and actually have earned a right to make your own observations. So I don't want to hear you trash talking Naruto or Sasuke ever again or I'll correct you."

"Fair enough," Sai said "I won't say anything bad about them in front of you. I had no idea you could use fake smiles like that either."

Sakura scoffed softy, "Of course. A smile brings uncertainty and is powerful enough to put off an enemy from attacking recklessly."

"I'll keep that in mind."

After Watching, Yamato took initiative forming a few hand signs. From behind him, sprung a huge cage, one made of wood. It looked like it was able to fit twenty people.

Sakura's eyes widened when she saw it; the sight of a cage did not bring back pleasant memories for her.

"If you three can't get along. I'll lock you up in this cell." Yamato had his arms crossed and was glaring strongly at the group, "We don't have much time before we reach The Heaven and Earth Bridge. We can spare some time to stop along the way."

Then Sakura also realized that this technique was also a jutsu that only the first Hokage was able to use. So how could Yamato use it?

'It also has a special ability…' Sakura remembered.

"Here's a little proposal, I can either lock you in this cell for a day to improve your team work. Or we can spend a night at a hot springs resort, which do you prefer?"

There wasn't much debate in choosing the latter.

* * *

' _ **Sitting in a hot tub or sauna can raise your body temperature to a level that can be dangerous for a developing baby. Studies have shown an increased risk for neutral tube defects in babies of women who have elevated their temperature before 7 weeks of pregnancy. Pregnant women also should not eat any kind of raw meat that included sushi; as well as deli meats which are known to be contaminated with listeria, which can cause a miscarriage. They also cannot eat fish with mercury; smoked sea food, raw shellfish, raw eggs, soft cheese, caffeine.'**_

When Sakura was giving the lecture on the importance of avoiding these certain activities and foods; she didn't quite understand what the future mothers were always pouting and complaining about. However; now that she was on the other side of that line she was starting to see the disadvantages.

Sakura couldn't take to the hot springs that day and had spent most of her time in her room, sleeping away the fatigue and sickness that came with her condition.

'There is someone up there laughing at me again,' Sakura thought, glaring up at the ceiling as she tightened the robe around her, slipping the amethyst ring onto her finger.

* * *

Later that night she, Naruto and Sai all came into the boy's room to find Yamaot sitting at a small table with a huge sea food spread. Varying from sushi to shellfish-all in all, a lot of things Sakura was not able to eat.

'You've got to be kidding.'

"Wow, it looks so good." Naruto said as he wiped his chin; he went to sit down with Sakura reluctantly trailing after him. She sat down beside him and looked at everything; catching hints of certain vegetables that she would be able to bite on; however the meats were all out of the question.

"Ne, Sakura you've gotta try this!" Naruto said, holding up sushi roll with his chopsticks.

Sakura held up her hand to decline, giving a nervous smile "That's okay Naruto, I'm not really in a sea-food mood."

Unfortunately that wasn't completely untrue; the strong aroma of the room was beginning to make her feel lightheaded and she knew her stomach would be churning soon. Thankfully, Naruto had a big appetite and Sai and Yamato were eating their fair share as well so she didn't have to look at it for much longer. With the food gone, Yamato settled them in and said that they were going to begin their training runs tomorrow. They all got ready to turn in for the night and when Naruto and Sai had left the room…

"Is everything alright Sakura?" he asked "You hardly touched any of the food."

"Of course captain Yamato." Sakura said; smiling a bit reluctantly, "I'm just not all that hungry,"

Yamato sighed, "Alright, but you should eat to keep your strength up. We've got a dangerous mission ahead."

Sakura nodded, "I understand."

* * *

Shizune admired her master Tsunade to the fullest extent; she was an excellent medical ninja and was highly regarded as the fifth Hokage. Although she was also a women who enjoyed gambling everything she and everyone else owned. She enjoyed drinking her own body weight in alcohol and always put her work off until the last minute which caused trouble for Shizune as well.

Which was why she was going to Konoha hospital to take care of the medical records filing. It was a simple job and Sakura was usually the one to do it; but as she was off on her mission there was no one else who would make sure that things were in order. It was also an excuse to take a break from her master's impulsive behavior-by doing someone else's work.

While she was walking through the hospital halls, she heard the clacking of shoes from behind her and saw one of the nurses heading u to her. "Shizune-san, what a surprise."

"I'm here to get some documents for Lady Tsunade."

The nurse nodded, "Oh alright, does that include Sakura Haruno's? She had come for a full body check-up and blood test."

Shizune frowned; why would Sakura come in for something like that? She was the one to give examinations, not get one herself. Something felt wrong; was Sakura perhaps in worse condition that she appeared to be?

"Um why would Sakura need a checkup?"

The nurse shrugged, "She just said she wanted to make sure everything was in order; apparently she had been poisoned in her last mission and wanted to make sure that her antidote didn't have any side effects."

"Oh alright." Shizune said, brushing it off as nothing more than a routine check-up.

"Although," the nursed paused, seeming unsure whether or not she should continue on what she was about to say. "She did seem a bit frazzled when she left and one of the other nurses said they thought they heard sobbing coming from the lab where Sakura-san was supposed to be doing her blood test."

Compelled to do a double check; though she continued to tell herself nothing was wrong, she asked, "Could you bring be Sakura Haruno's file?"

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

Tsunade grinned, sitting at her desk happily sipping from the bottle of sake she had hidden under her desk for special occasions like this-when Shizune was off fetching documents for her and she could get a break from constant paper work.

'It's moments like these that make life worth living,' Tsunade thought, already semi-drunk, her cheeks flushed red. She was about to take another sip from her cup when she heard rather rattled footsteps heading straight for her office door!

She slipped the bottle back under the desk and attempted to sooth her hair out; gathering up a random piece of paper in front of her to pretend to be reading.

The door slammed open with a heavy thud as it hit the wall, "Lady Tsunade!"

Shizune came in, rushing into the room, she was panting and there were beads of sweat forming on her forehead; she looked pale.

"What is it?" Tsunade asked, "And where are those documents?"

With a few deep breaths Shizune held up a piece of paper in her hands, she trembled as she held it out to Tsunade. "T-This is-is-

She couldn't finish her sentence before placing the page in front of Tsunade; the women frowned with confusion; what was so terrifying about this? "Shizune; this is an hCG test result; what's so bad that you're as white as a sheet? It just says someone's pregnant. Wait-this isn't yours is it?"

"NO OF COURSE NOT."

Tsunad held up her hands, "Alright, alright; calm down I was only joking. Then who's is it?"

Shizune took a few more breaths, attempting to calm her rapid heart-beat "It's-it's-look..."

Pointing to the top corner where there was a line ruled, placed for names-she pointed to the name that had been filled in.

It took a second too long for Tsunade to read the name before she reacted; her eyes widened with shock. She didn't know how long she stared at the paper; but she had to keep looking in case the letters decided to change; she hoped that they would in vain.

"Shizune…please tell me I'm just extremely drunk and that I'm not actually seeing what I think I am." Tsunade said eerily calm.

Shizune shook her head, "It's not-I-I got it from her medical file." Starring at her master, she swallowed hard. "Lady Tsunade, you don't think this is-

Tsunade slammed her hand on the table hard; this could not be true. It simply could not be and yet why was she so terrified? Either way she couldn't leave this be. had the mission been ranked C or lower then perhaps and then there were also other circumstances to consider…

"Shizune; get me the first available anbu!"

* * *

Sakura woke from a surprisingly pleasant sleep; without the dreams of the past to haunt her, nor any new ones reminding her of her current condition. Shifting under the warmth of the futon, she stood up to move to the window, the room was quite spacious and being the only girl in the team did have its perks from time to time. One, you would usually get your own space when out on missions. Though that also tended to create a barrier between her and the rest of the teammates.

Sliding the glass's frame, Sakura felt the cool breeze brush against her skin. Spotting a pair of birds taking off to the sky. How long has it been now since she used her djinn equip for something like that? And how much longer was it going to be before she could do it again?

Then she saw Sai walking up to the end of the resort on a platform that overlooked the forest area along the edge of the water that surrounded the building. He was carrying a book under his arm and a case in his hand. He glanced around before sitting down; unaware that he was being watched by the pinkette.

"What's he up to?"

Curious; Sakura went back to the room, closing the sliding door before removing the belt that held her robe together. She changed into her usual ninja attire, packing up all her things one time before heading out.

* * *

"So you draw."

Sai looked back from his sitting position, a notebook in one hand and a pastel in the other. He didn't seem to really acknowledge her appearance.

"Did you want something?" he asked her blankly.

Leaning over, with her hands on her knees, Sakura peered at the abstract of multiple colors that swirled and blended perfectly together. "You're impolite, but you've also got a sensitive side huh?"

Sai returned her smile with his own one, feigned of course. "There's that fake smile again, you're not stilling planning on hitting me again are you?"

Tilting her head to the side, Sakura sat down crossed legged a little ways behind Sai. "Nah, I'll only do it if you judge my friends again without any merit."

Sai looked at her, his face turning blank again. "What are you doing?"

A slim finger gestured to his sketchbook, "I was just curious; can I take a look?"

"You already have," Sai said turning back to the scenery.

Resting her chin on her hand, Sakura watched as Sai continued to colour the paper with a pastel.

"With the scenary, I assumed you were drawing a landscape." Sakura said looking at the abstract in awe. When she was able to slow down, she liked admiring art. In Sinbad's world, they were always looking at designs and such that they wanted to use for their country's architect. "Have you thought of a title?"

Sai looked at her, smiling again. "Don't know."

"You know…." Sakura trailed carefully, "You shouldn't force a smile like that; otherwise it'll be hard for you to place emotion properly. As for a title for your drawing; it's easy to come up with one."

"I've drawn tens of thousands of pictures, but I've never titled any of them." Sai stated

Stretching out her legs now, Sakura peered up at the skies. "Don't artists usually title their work? Like portraits are named after the person. And with other pictures, you name it with what's happening at that time; your thoughts; or how you felt when you drew it."

Sai's hand stopped moving; "I couldn't think of a title if I tried. Nothing comes to mind. I don't feel anything. As for a smile; well as I said before it's the best way to handle a difficult situation."

Frowning, Sakura rubbed the back of her neck slightly agitated. "Sure; but if it's fake. All those suppressed emotions that you kept hidden behind that smile will eventually surface and boil over. You can't feel nothing; you're human. That's just the way it is."

Thinking back; there was Ja'far who was an assassin growing up and he had to kill his own parents. He suppressed his own pain and emotions before she and Sinbad reached out to him in Valefor's dungeon and saved him from falling into darkness because of it. Then there was Masrur, a former gladiator and slave who had nothing but fighting before Sakura and Sinbad freed him.

"Would people refer to you as odd?" Sai asked offhandedly, looking back at the pinkette.

She shrugged, "Most would."

* * *

After their break at the resort, Sakura, Naruto, Sai and Yamato continued their journey to the bridge, but it was still going to take about a day or two to get there. The next day, Yamato had them all go through a simulation for their mission.

They were going to have to capture Sasori's spy alive; which would be a difficult task. If the spy was killed they would lose their only information source on Orochimaru. There were two scenarios set, the first was that Yamato succeeded in restraining and capturing the spy and the second; they were forced into battle. In which he wanted them to be in which he wanted them to be in pairs. Yamato said that he and Sakura would be on a team; as she was their medic and couldn't afford to get herself injured he would be more likely to keep her out of danger and then there was Sai and Naruto….a bit of a problematic combination at the moment but Yamato refused to change the arrangement.

As Sakura feared, the simulation did not go well at all. Naruto and Sai had a scuffle when Sai restrained Naruto in the middle of the fight and went off on his own to capture Yamato who was acting as the spy attempting to escape. Sakura had broken Naruto free and they caught up with the two after. In the middle of the forest they now stood; Naruto glaring so hard at Sai it was possible he was on the verge of killing.

He grabbed Sai by his collar, "You bastard!"

"What?" Sai asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Have you ever heard of the word friend?" Naruto asked narrowing his eyes.

Sai pulled away, taking out a blank scroll and a brush, he painted the word friend on it and showed it to Naruto; saying he understood perfectly what it meant which only riled Naruto up further.

Sakura sighed as she watched the two boys; this was a bad reenactment of the genin days. Except back then, Naruto would've actually received some kind of response from Sasuke aside from blatant remarks with no feelings behind them.

In the middle of their fight, Yamato got into a stance drawing out a kunai as someone appeared on a tree branch near them.

"Finally found you."

They saw a ninja, wearing an anbu mask and the Leaf village headband on their heads and right next to him, was Shinzune.

Yamato withdrew his weapon. "What's going on? Why are you here?"

Sakura frowned, "Shizune…?"

The unnamed anbu landed on the ground, walking up to the group. He turned directly to the pinkette; "Sakura Haruno."

"Yes?" Sakura said warily; she was getting a bad feeling about this now.

"Under orders of the fifth Hokage, you are hereby withdrawn from this mission and return to the village immediately under escort."

Sakura and Naruto gasped in surprise. "What?"

"I'll be replacing you on this mission, Sakura." Shizune stated. "Under Lady Tsunade's orders."

"Wait; why does she have to go back!?" Naruto exclaimed throwing his hand out, "We're only a day away from the deadline! You can't just do that!"

"I don't understand either," Sakura said, looking to Shizune for answers. "Why does Lady Tsunade want to withdraw and replace me with you?"

"Yeah; Sakura's been assigned this mission!" Naruto exclaimed.

Shizune drew a breath, rolling her bottom lip. "Recent develops have lead Lady Tsunade to deem Sakura inadequate for this level mission."

"WHAT! THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE." Naruto threw out his arms. "Why did Grandma Tsunade say that!?"

"It is unusual to pull someone this far into a mission." Yamato stated.

Sakura wasn't ranting, her hands fell to her side. "Recent developments….?"

Shizune stared at Sakura nodding and ignoring Naruto's ranting. There was a knowing look in her face that made Sakura's heart feel like it had been dropped to her stomach. Sakura's eyes widened; Tsunade knew! There was no other explanation and what else could he be talking about? She had only recently returned….

'Oh no…' Sakura swallowed hard, clasping her hand at the rings around her neck.

" _My king?" Beleth called his distressed master,_

"That's bull! Sakura isn't going to-

"Naruto," Sakura walked to Naruto and put her hand on his shoulder, giving him a reassuring expression. "It's alright."

"Not it's not!" he protested, "How can they just come here and say you're-

"I know it doesn't make sense but I have to leave and go back to the village. I'll explain everything to you when you get back okay?"

Naruto's expression softened. "Sakura; what's…?"

Sakura looked to Shizune and then to the anbu, her expression becoming serious. "I understand; I'll return with you immediately."

Yamato frowned, he wondered what this was about exactly. Tsunade obviously made this decision while they were on the mission or she would have just withheld Sakura. They would still have a medical ninja with them at least, but not one with the same level of chakra controlled strength. He just hoped the mission would go according to plan, since Sakura wasn't assigned to do much fighting during the capturing of the spy in the first place.

'Still, something doesn't feel right.'

…

* * *

'I am dead,' Sakura thought as she stood in front of the polished wooden doors that lead into the Hokage office. Her heart was beating rapidly in her chest. Tsunade definitely knew. Why else would she withdraw her from the mission?

'I am so dead.'

" _Relax, maybe it's for something else?" Gaap suggested._

" _Unlikely." Orias stated. "I cannot say I am disappointed that our king was withdrawn from this mission."_

" _Why do you say that?" asked Sitri_

" _Because it's dangerous." Beleth chided. "She'll be putting herself and her unborn at risk."_

" _With us, our king can handle any enemy in this world." Gaap said._

" _Of course, but there are draw backs in her condition." Stolas reminded them._

Sakura took a deep breath as she placed her hand on the door, pausing briefly to gather her wits and thoughts. It wasn't as if she was going to be able to hide the truth forever anyway and because she was pregnant there was no way for Tsunade to physically punish Sakura without creating risk. That was an upside.

'Yet it's not really helping.'

Swallowing hard and pushing her hand down on the handle, Sakura opened the door in a rather suspenseful manner.

Tsunade was at her desk; there were five empty bottles of sake scattered on the floor and the women looked quite disheveled; as if she hadn't gotten a wink of sleep in a long while. Her eyes opened when she heard the door opening.

"Lady Tsunade," Sakura greeted hands at her side.

Her teacher looked at her, almost as if she was transparent and yet at the same time like she wasn't even there. The office was completely silent for a good three minutes or so before Tsunade broke the silence yet did nothing to ease the tension. "Do you know why I withdrew you from this mission?"

Sakura looked down at the floor, "I have my suspicions, but I'd rather you confirm it before I say anything else."

Shuffling around her desk, Tsunade brought up the only piece of paper that seemed to have no wrinkles, as if it had been well reserved for the purpose of being presented and clearly seen. "Can you explain this HCG test?"

Sakura breathed out softly, hands shaking she placed them over her exposed stomach, "I am nearly nine weeks pregnant."

Tsunade drew in a breath, a part of her still had hope that this was all just some kind of hoax or misunderstanding. Perhaps some fault with the test results itself. No matter how slim the chances seemed of it being otherwise, she wanted to believe that there was a possibility that Sakura wasn't actually pregnant.

"Sakura…..you're really…"

The pinkette nodded, keeping her stiff posture while she gave a bitter smile, "I know, it's surprising isn't it?"

"But….you…you-"Tsunade leaned against her chair, placing a hand on her forehead. She felt exceptionally dizzy right now. "I can't believe this. How did this happen?"

"Lady Tsunade, you're a medic. I think you know how this happened." Sakura didn't hesitate in her answer.

While she understood that in this world she had reverted back to the age she was when she left; her mind had surpassed her body. She had experienced more in her four years in that other world than anyone from her generation may ever experience in their lifetime. She had lost, loved, betrayed and fought. She had to grow up fast in order to survive. So she would not take likely to being ridiculed like a child; even by her master.

"Yes but I did not think that you would-Sakura-This is-I-I need a drink!" Tsunade shook her head, running her hand through her hair. How did this happen? How did her sweet, innocent little student become pregnant? Okay obvious she knew how…but HOW? Sakura was not that kind of girl, but this whole scenario was just a disaster and a half! Tsunade had ordered Shizune to keep quiet about this until she had the chance to talk to Sakura personally.

"Lady Tsunade." Sakura called her teacher carefully.

"Who is he?" Tsunade asked softly.

Sakura stared at her teacher; her face void of emotion so that she would not give away anything she would regret later.

"Who is the father Sakura?" Tsunade repeated, she appeared to be getting agitated with every passing second. It was as if she was waiting for the dice to finish rolling on her final bet, filled with anxiety. Despite that she was probably going to lose.

The pinkette lowered her gaze onto her hands as she thought back to Sinbad, what was she to tell her teacher? That she found a magic mirror that could transport you to another dimension, ended up going through it into another world, met someone and fell in love, then separated in order to return to her world; but not after having one final night together.

'It'll be easier to swallow a cactus than that story.' Sakura thought and finally she concluded on what to say.

"He was a wonderful man I met, outside of the village-but I won't ever see him again." Sakura responded, her voice becoming soft. She reached for baby angel, fiddling with it around her neck. "We broke up."

Tsunade obviously was far from satisfied as she slammed her hand on the desk, threatening to break it the next time she hit it. "His name Sakura! Who is he?"

"It's not important."

"Sakura! I want proper answers."

Sakura narrowed her eyes at her master's threatening tone, "Are you going to interrogate it out of me if I don't?"

"Sakura…this is just so…." Tsunade swayed as she tried to steady herself, coming down from her agitated state. "You're barely fifteen!"

"I know," Sakura said, her voice calm. "But I also know that I am not some little girl that's going to run away from this. I will take care of this child and I will continue to serve my village as a ninja. I've already made my decision."

Tsunade looked at her student and then to her bare stomach, as flat as ever but it would not be like that for much longer. She was shocked and this was a lot to process but even as time went by Tsunade had noticed a sudden change in Sakura that was not of the everyday garden variety kind. She carried herself differently, as if she had gained a type of intuition that no one else could ever hope to grasp. And now this…

"It doesn't matter what you feel at this point because it is done. You have every right to be upset but understand this-this is my child. It's my decision what happens from here."

Sakura had a strength in her voice that seemed to make her grow taller in that moment and what Tsunade saw then was not a little girl.

Tsunade swallowed hard, looking up at the girl she thought of as her own daughter, "As of this moment, you are on leave from all missions. You can continue your work at the hospital but eventually-

"If I have to take maternity leave, I think it would be better spent there." Sakura said with a light smile.

"Also you'll have your first ultra sound in two weeks."

Sakura nodded again, saying that she understood before turning around to leave but not before glancing over her shoulder to look at her teacher, smiling with a gleam in her eyes that no pregnant teenager would hold. "Lady Tsunade, please allow me to tell everyone else about this."

Tsunade nodded; she had thought that this would be best kept between her and Shizune for now and seeing as it was confirmed, the rest would be up to Sakura from here on. Although she still felt worried.

'What has happened to you, Sakura?'

* * *

Sakura went home straight after that to break the news to her parents because putting things off, in her opinion would only make things worse over time. And this was one situations her djinns couldn't get her out of.

"Mom, dad, can you come here?"

Mebuki walked in with her husband, "Sakura, are you back from your mission already?"

Biting her lip, Sakura gestured to the couch. "You need to have a seat. There's something I have to tell you."

It was obvious to her parents that something was wrong and the anxiety continued to grow with every suspenseful moment that went by. However, as Sakura sat in front of Kizashi and Mebuki, hands folded in her lap and a solemn expression on her face; they suddenly became willing for this moment to last as long as possible as they felt that their final moment of peace, was about to be shattered. Sakura wasn't long winded with her speech or delayed as she faced the both of them.

"This is going to be a bit hard for you to take in," Sakura started, looking at her hands in her lap and then back to her parents "I don't really know how else I could say this but….I'm pregnant."

Kizashi laughed at his daughter, "That's funny Sakura! You're trying out your own practical jokes."

"No." Sakura stated firmly. "This is not a joke."

It took all but a minute for her parents to realize that she was telling the truth.

To say that things could've gone better was an understatement. After delivering the news that she was expecting; it had taken nearly five minutes for the small statement to process and turn the wheels in Kizashi and Mebuki's minds. Sakura could've sworn she gave both of them a mini-heart attack; she had kept quiet after that and allowed the information to sink in. Both tried to keep composure but Mebuki was the first to erupt.

"How can you be pregnant Sakura, at your age!?" Mebuki raved, standing up from her seat. "This shouldn't be!"

"I know, but I am still pregnant." Sakura stated.

"It just can't be!" Mebuki exclaimed, breathing heavily. "You're not this irresponsible Sakura, I know you! How could this have-

"Mebuki." Kizashi called to his wife, gently grasping her arm and seating her back on the couch. He rubbed her back, telling her to calm down. For a long while, Sakura just sat and stared at her parents.

Kizashi then looked at his daughter, his heart felt like it had dropped to his stomach. "Sakura; will you please explain this to us?"

She gave a similar response as she had to Tsunade. She told them that she had met someone outside of the village and that they split up before she even knew she was pregnant.

Out of all the challengers that Mebuki and Kizashi believed they would face when having a child-this was not one of them. It was like they had been preparing for rain their entire life and turned out to be facing a tsunami.

"Who is he Sakrua? Who is the father?" asked Mebuki.

"It doesn't matter." Sakura said, closing her eyes to images of Sinbad.

"What?" Kizashi frowned.

"I've had enough of this, who is the father Sakura!?" Mebuki stood up again, glaring down at her daughter.

"He…." Sakura's voice grew soft, her heart gave a painful clench in pain. "It doesn't matter. Because I'll never be able to see him again."

"What does that mean!?"

"Exactly that. Even if I told you about him, it wouldn't matter because where he is now, you can't reach him-and neither can I." Sakura stated calmly. She looked between her parents and sighed softly. "I can't give a better explanation than this."

"Well, you should try." Kizashi said. "Sakura; this doesn't sound very good either way."

"Then it won't matter, either way."

Sakura knew that she was twisting things a little with her words, what she said wasn't a lie but at the same time, her parents were unaware of the truth lying beneath the mask.

"You can say whatever you want and do whatever you want. If you want me to leave the house I will; if you want nothing to do with me and my child, I'll understand. Although; the fact will always remain..." Sakura stated; she smiled as her eyes lowered on her stomach. "This will be my child and your grandchild by blood. It won't matter what you think. This also wasn't some mistake or accident. I made an adult decision and I was ready for the results."

The way she said it seemed to strike a chord in her parents and apparently it had been the right one with the way she looked at them.

* * *

After that, Sakura went to her room to allow her parents to come to terms with the situation. She supposed it was the right move, because after that, her parents had come into her room the next morning saying they were still very shocked at her decision and pending on their feelings about it but they wouldn't allow her to be alone in this situation. If she was willing to work and take on the responsibility fully, then they would have her support.

* * *

When Naruto returned a few days later; he had a lot to talk about with Sakura. Apparently, that information she got from Sasori was accurate; however Orochimaru had caught out the so called 'spy' who happened to be his right hand man Kabuto that had been placed under a mind control jutsu-which had been broken. So they had set a trap for Sasori in turn; although it was Naruto, Sai, Shizune and Yamato that ended up getting caught in the net. There was a scuffle with Sai as well; he was sent to actually eliminate Sasuke. It was the reason he had been placed on the team but Naruto managed to crack Sai's shell from years of training and convinced him otherwise; allowing him to understand the cause behind Naruto and Sakura wanting to rescue Sasuke. Speaking of Sasuke; they had also run into him at one of Orochimaru's hideouts. There was a battle between the two and Naruto told her how much Sasuke had actually progressed.

"To be honest, I'm completely weak in comparison to him right now." Naruto had said to her, in a depressed tone that he rarely took on. "I can't compete."

Being tired and having talked a good few hours about their former comrade, Sakura thought it better not to drop another bomb on top of Naruto's head. He had forgotten about her being taken off the mission; although as soon as they were off the topic of Sasuke he wanted to know why Tsunade removed her last minute.

But she wasn't ready to say.

"Sorry Naruto; I think that's enough for one day."

* * *

" _No offense my king, but you look more anxious than you did with your parents or that teacher of yours." Pointed Gaap._

Honestly; her nerves were almost gone. She couldn't think of the right way to tell Naruto about this. He was important to her and she wanted to explain things in a way that didn't overwhelm him but this was Naruto and he had a bit of a record for flying off the handle. How could she not be nervous? She was overwhelmed at the concept of having a child, but she couldn't run from it and she couldn't hide it for much longer; two months already now, it wouldn't be long before she would be showing.

She hadn't even mentioned anything to Kakashi; in fact all he knew was that she was withdrawn from the mission because she was no longer 'eligible'; that's all that Tsunade had told him and it was only Tsunade, Shizune and her parents who knew she was pregnant.

'Oh either way, this won't go down well.' Sakura thought as she started browsing the row of books on motherhood. Yes; she did know what being pregnant inclined, what would happen in terms of medical procedures but there was the actual task of raising a child that had her on edge. She had helped with Rurumu's children and she had gotten along well with most of the children in that other world but this child would be one that she had herself.

Sakura's hands fell on the book she wanted, on 'Maternal love'; it was something she recalled using against Madaura when she and Sinbad started that slave rebellion. It was one of the darkest days of her life; yet she cherished it because it was also the day that Sinbad had confessed to her.

'Sinbad…' she touched her stomach again. 'How would you have felt about this?'

Sighing softly, she gathered the books in her arms securely before moving to the end of the space between the shelves. Sitting amongst the desks set out in the clear area of the library, was Sai; sitting alone with many more books than she cared to count.

"Looking at an art book?"

Sai turned his head to see the pinkette standing near the desk, carrying a few books in hand. He greeted her with a polite 'Sakura-san' and she took that as invitation to sit on the opposite side of him at the table.

"Oh you're reading," Sakura said, retracting her previous question. She sat down and placed her books in a neat pile in front of her. She craned her neck upwards to get a glance at the titles of the books Sai was reading and found that they were all self-help books on how to express and read emotions as well as better your relationship with others.

She smiled as Sai blushed and bashfully attempted to hide it; so she didn't say anything.

"Naruto and I are going to visit Kakashi-sensei in the hospital, do you want to come as well?" Sakura asked smiling.

Sai's face remained passive, "Kakashi?"

"You're a member of team Kakashi now. You should at least introduce yourself." Sakura said in a matter of fact tone. She had heard from Naruto that there had been a little shift in Sai since their little engagement with Sasuke.

Sai then noted the books that Sakura had with her, he could see the titles of the books since their spines were in front of him. It was books on pregnancy and motherhood?

"Sakura-san, what are you….?" Unable to form the right question, Sai pointed to the books in front of her. The pinkette let out a nervous laugh, waving her hands around dismissively.

"Oh this is just some research." Sakura said quickly covering the titles.

The half lie seemed to satisfy Sai, since he didn't ask any more about it. After a few minutes of the two reading in silence, Sakura suggested they leave to meet up with Naruto.

* * *

The spikey haired ninja was waiting, sitting on two stairs with statures standing on either side. He appeared to be deep in thought; in dreadful reminiscence about the mission. He had found Sasuke; he was right in front of him, but he had changed. More than Naruto was counting on. He was still fixated on getting his revenge. Naruto had expected Sakura to be upset about hearing the story; to be mad at him for failing to bring Sasuke back. But instead, he got a hug from her and reassurance. Then there was the matter of Sakura; she had changed as well. Her flaming temper seemed to have simmered and the way she behaved around him was-

"Naruto," Sakura called, waving at him. He lost his train of thought, smiling back at the pinkette before his face fell when he spotted Sai not too far from her.

"Why is Sai here too?" he asked, eyeing the artist that walked over to him with Sakura.

"I bumped into him at the library," Sakura said

Pulling a face, Naruto put his hands behind his head and started to rant about how he had planned this out to be just him and Sakura so that it would be like a date.

"Naruto," Sakura laughed.

"I mean, you still have to explain why you were taken out of the mission to me." Naruto added pointedly.

Sakura smiled warily, "Yes, yes; I'll tell you soon."

"But why not right now?" Naruto whined.

"Because we have to go and see Kakashi-sensei."

Sai then interrupted, speaking in bashful tone as he addressed his two teammates. "N-Naruto; S-Sakura."

Hearing Sai address them with a tone they had not heard him speak in to them before; they turned their heads over to Sai. The dark haired boy scratched his cheek nervously, averting his eyes. "May I join your conversation?"

Naruto and Sakura glanced at each other as Sai continued to explain that he had been reading about how to open up to people and become friends with them quicker. There was a light air that surrounded the three teens now. The beginning of their mission had been a little rough, but after their first mission (even though Sakura was taken off of it); they had taken a step to understanding each other better.

Grinning, Naruto threw his hands behind his head, "What? That's what you're all nervous about?"

Sakura smiled at him, "That book earlier then….?"

Sai nodded, he smiled with his eyebrows knitted together; "I was trying to come up with nicknames for both of you. But I couldn't think of anything; so I thought dropping the honorifics was good enough."

Naruto argued that nicknames wasn't something you decided on your own; it was something that would come naturally. Sakura further explained the concept. Having a bit of experience with nicknames herself; she had been called many different things in that world. Some referred to her as well poised such as 'lady Haruno' and so on and other's not so much; like Kouha who called her a 'bitch' and many other things. Then there was Gyokuen who referred to her as 'little dove'; a shiver ran down Sakura's spine thinking about that women.

"Sai; nicknames usually have something to do with a person's traits or character." Sakura said holding up her finger, she then titled her head to the side. "Like; if you were going to give Naruto a nickname. He used to be called a knucklehead because he was brash, stubborn and hardheaded. If I were to base Naruto just by meeting him; I might call him 'Naruto the idiot.' " Sakura said, before Naruto could complain she held up her hand over his mouth to stop him. "But, you see that would be because I didn't get to learn Naruto's real characteristics. So you have to really know someone before you can call them anything."

Sai nodded, "So what would your nickname for Naruto be?"

"I haven't really thought to give Naruto a nickname that I'd use because one day….." Sakura turned to the blonde haired ninja, smiling brightly. "I'll be calling him Hokage."

Naruto's eyes widened, he felt the blush form on his cheeks and pulled back from Sakura's hand over his mouth; turning away. He felt an overwhelming joy fill him; that was something he couldn't find more endearing. It was his dream to become Hokage and when he was younger, he would always boast about the day he would achieve the title.

'Thanks, Sakura.' Naruto lookked back at them with a wider grin on his face. "Yeah; it's just like Sakura said. I'm gonna be hokage someday."

Sai seemed to be contemplating on what Sakura said, he folded his arm over his chest and rested a hand under his chin in thought. His eyes falling on Sakura, eyeing her form as he attempted to think of a proper nickname for her. She noticed this and held up her hand in front him.

"No, you have to get to know us better first." Sakura said, frowning playfully before she smiled again. "It's alright; as teammates we'll all be spending enough time together."

Sai's cheeks turned red again and this time he felt his heartbeat begin to escalate as he continued to stare at the pinkette's face.

'What is this?'

* * *

Kakashi was sitting in the single hospital bed, under crisp white sheets that were too thin. He had been reading one of his favorite novels when they had come into the room-just when he was getting to the good part. He greeted the three and looked particularly at Sai.

"So you're the new teammate Sai…nice to meet you."

Sai stared at Kakashi; he had heard about this man in the organization. He was well known for his ability unlike any other ninja's. "Yes sir."

Then Kakashi waved his hand towards Sakura, telling her to come closer to the bed; she moved from the foot to the side and leaned towards Kakashi. "I heard from Lady Tsunade that you were taken off the mission; what was-

"Uh Kakashi-sensei; why don't we first hear about how the actual mission went?" Sakura interjected, looking pointedly at Naruto to give the full explanation.

"Kakashi-sensei, while we were on our mission-

Without taking his eyes off the pages of the book, Kakashi spoke. "Yamato, already told me about everything, including Sasuke."

Everyone fell silent, except for Naruto. "We're running out of time! At this rate, he'll-We can't bring Sasuke back, not like we are now. He's too strong"

Yes; it had been a concern for Sakura; about what would happen to Sasuke once the deadline of three years had ended and it was time for Orochimaru to transfer bodies-his body. That was something that always played on Sakura's mind before she found out about the time distortion. She had hope that Naruto would keep strong until she came back and at least keep Sasuke from giving up his body in that time.

Turning a page casually, Kakashi said, "Then we'll have to get stronger in a short amount of time too."

" _You've already done that haven't you, my king?" Sitri said, a smile sounded in her voice._

Sakura didn't smile despite the fact; she was pregnant so she was going to have to stay out of action for a while. Even so, her djinns were always securely on her; it wasn't that she was afraid she was going to need them but she wanted to keep them close. They were a part of her.

Then Kakashi began explaining that he had been thinking of a new training method that would make them stronger and he had finally come up with a solution-one that was suited only to Naruto though.

"Naruto, if you pass this training, you may become stronger than me."

Naruto's eyes widened; shaking in anticipation. "Me. Become stronger than you?"

"You're going to be working with me the whole time, but it'll be unlike any training you've done before." Kakashi said to him.

"What kind of training?" Naruto asked, trying to hide his excitement behind a cool demeanor.

"You're going to learn the most powerful technique you can, by creating it yourself." Kakashi stated.

" _Have you ever trained personally with this 'sensei' of yours my king?" asked Stolas_

Sakura smiled, with sad eyes, 'No,'

When she was twelve, she didn't take such a great interest in training and learning new techniques. And by the time she realized how dangerous that was for a ninja; it was too late. She had almost lost her life on several occasions and had endangered the lives of her teammates.

'But it doesn't matter; because I have a power even they can't achieve.' Sakura told her djinn's.

Just then the door swung open before Kakashi and Naruto were able to go into the details of his new training regime, in front of the doorway stood four familiar figures. The first was Shikamaru. Next to him was a plump teen, munching on a bag of potato chips, he had light hazel brown hair and was known for losing his temper whenever someone called him fat; Choji. Then there was the only female amongst the group; she had exceptionally long blonde hair tied up in a high ponytail that showed off its length; light blue eyes like the sky; this was Sakura's friend and rival Ino. And lastly, the man who stood a little ways in front of the three was a jounin and that groups sensei; Azuma Sarutobi.

As they walked in, Shikamaru was the first to greet them before he noticed Sai and glared at him. He had been with Naruto when Sai attacked them; so that had not left a good impression. Sai on the other hand was nothing short of overwhelmed that there were so many people he had to interact with at once.

"Hi there." Sai replied smiling, as he remembered in the books.

As Team Azuma joined Team Kakashi; Ino came to stand next to Sakura although she was staring at Sai he was the last piece of candy on the shelf. Ino leaned over to Sakura to whisper to her.

"Hey Sakura, that's your new teammate?"

"Yeah."

"He's kinda cute isn't he? He reminds me of Sasuke." Ino said.

Sakura tightened her hold on the single book she had picked up from the library, tilting her head. "Appearance wise; but as far as personalities go…." She stopped there shaking her head to end the conversation. There was no doubt in her mind that Ino was going to attempt to woo Sai.

Azuma then spoke to his team, "You kids go on ahead to the barbeque; Team Kakashi you're invited too."

Everyone broke into a fit of excitement; Sakura on the other hand knew that they were actually being dismissed so that the two jonin could talk in private.

'Wonder what that's about.' Sakura thought knowingly as she left the hospital room.

* * *

They all met up at the restaurant a few minutes later. Sakura sat down at the end of the table while Naruto sat next to Chouji and Sai sat beside Ino. The meat was already grilling on the tables when she arrived and the plates were all set up. Shikamura wasn't able to attend because he had to help his father, so Chouji called his portion of meat.

Ino took her chopsticks and started filling a plate with meat, before placing it in front of Sai who simply continued to smile. Sakura sighed; she knew this was going to happen and yet it was still painful to watch-and she knew Ino was much worse.

'I can't take this smell.'

Sakura covered her face with her hand; she was beginning to feel sick. Her stomach began twisting into knots that threatened to snap. The smell of grilled meat had actually become unappealing.

Meanwhile, Sai was becoming anxious for a different reason. He didn't know what to do in this kind of social situation. Sakura had told him that he couldn't give anyone a nickname until he got to know them better, despite what the book had said he was choosing to take her advice.

"Hello." Sai greeted.

Chouji and Ino then introduced themselves; after they began eating in peace but Sakura had not been able to push the sick feeling she got when she looked at the meat. She was just silently praying that she didn't throw up.

"Hey Sakura," Ino pointed to the pinkette's top; where Sitri's hairpin was clipped on. "I've been meaning to ask this for a while now; but where'd you get that pin? It's gorgeous."

Sakura touched the accessory; "Oh, this? It was….a gift."

Ino narrowed her eyes on the pin, curiously "Pretty expensive looking gift; also your hair's way too short."

Sakura scoffed, "Why do you think I wear it on my top?"

"And the ring?" Ino pointed to baby angel. "Where'd you get that?"

"Another gift." Sakura replied swiftly, averting her eyes. Leave it to Ino to question her sudden taste in glittering accessories and point out how unusual it was for her.

"Excuse me everyone!"

Another wave of sickness washed over Sakura, drowning her. Sakura held a hand over her mouth before she rushed to the bathroom; ignoring her friends calls. She ran passed the other tables and into the bathroom; shutting the door where she exhaled everything in her stomach. It kept on for a good two minutes before she was able to stop.

* * *

'Oh you've got to be kidding me,'

Going to the sink, Sakura began to rinse out her mouth to get rid of the bitter aftertaste that accompanied bile and then splashed some water on her face. Glancing at herself in the mirror, she saw Ino coming in and closing the door behind her. Thankfully, they were the only two in the bathroom.

"Sakura, are you okay?" Ino asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." she curtly replied, turning off the tap she stood up straight. Although she didn't miss the look of doubt on Ino's face.

* * *

"Are you alright Sakura?" Naruto asked when the two girls returned to the table. Chouji was already stuffing his face with as much meat as possible while the girls were occupied.

Sakura nodded, rubbing the back of her neck. "Yes; it's not that unusual. I'm just not feeling very up to barbeque anymore."

Naruto slumped forward, he then muttered; "This is like when you didn't want to eat any of that huge sea food platter that Captain Yamato got us. Are you on a diet or something?"

That she had actually really wanted to eat, but she would have to fare without it for the next few months. As for the meat; that as just her heightened sense of smell that was getting to her. She was afraid of what the cravings might bring. Rurumu hardly ever showed any signs if she was pregnant; in fact the women's belly would remain unchanged and she would give birth only a few months after conceiving, barely the second trimester.

Ino raised her eyebrow at Sakura, "You're getting sick at the smell of meat and you won't eat shellfish? What are you pregnant?" Ino laughed at the end, indicating that she had meant that only as a joke to lighten the air but it only seemed to thicken it and Sai didn't help with his next words

"I should've gotten that from the book you checked out earlier, 'What to expect when you're unexpectingly expecting." Sai said and the entire table froze along with Sakura who averted her eyes. Ino's eyes widened.

"Wait a second…." Ino pointed to Sakura with a shaking finger. "Sakura…don't tell me that you're actually….?"

'Uh oh,' Sakura's sweat dropped as she kept her eyes averted.

"Wait come on, there's no way Sakura's pregnant right?" Naruto laughed, looking to the pinkette to back up his statement, however she remained quiet.

Chouji's eyes widened as well, "Sakura?"

Swallowing hard, Sakura gave a curt nod of her head. "Two months…"

…

…

….

…

….

….

….

….

….

….

….

…..

….

"HOLY CRAP YOU'RE PREGNANT!?"

Needless to say the barbeque was cancelled, since the manager had kicked the group out for Ino's outburst followed by Naruto's and Chouji's who were spluttering about barely able to get the words out of their mouths before moving onto the next 'question'

* * *

"Okay, okay, okay, okay," Ino took a deep breath, trying to calm herself but it wasn't working too well.

The five had found a more secluded place to have this discussion; at the training grounds where there was nothing but forest surrounding an open field. Giving perfect leeway to scream; because there was no way the volume on their voices were able to lower after that. "Sakura; what do you mean you're pregnant?"

Sakura sighed, this was going to be the third time she explained it to them, at first she was nervous and now she was getting a little irked. "I found out through an hCG that I was two months pregnant; this was before I left on our mission to the Heaven and Earth Bridge. Lady Tsunade found out and that's why she withdrew me from the mission."

Naruto appeared very feint at right now, as he listened to Sakura's story. He still couldn't process that what she was saying as true.

"Wait….so you're really-

"Yes Naruto," Sakura said firmly; placing a hand on her stomach. "I'm pregnant."

Pointing with a shaking finger, Naruto started opening and closing his mouth, his words coming out in chokes.

"HOW?"

When Sakura didn't answer, Sai interjected, speaking in a strict-laced tone. "You see Naruto, when a man and women engage in sexual inter-

Turning red, Naruto slapped his hands over his ears, clenching his jaw. "THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT."

Even Sakura appeared a bit embarrassed by Sai's statement of the obvious; she put the tips of her fingers on her forehead and shook her head. This wasn't exactly the way she wanted to break the news to any of them.

"So-So-SO you're really pregnant huh Sakura?" Chouji asked, starring at her stomach.

She nodded in confirmation, "Yes."

"Wait-Sakura; who's the father?" Ino asked.

"We broke up." Sakura deadpanned.

"THAT'S NOT AN ANSWER." Naruto, Ino and Chouji screamed.

" _Well, this could've been worse." Gaap said._

" _How?" asked Beleth, wincing at the ranting of their kings friends. They were determined to get answers but she wouldn't give them any._

" _Well; she could've told them in detail how she became pregnant, with the side story of going to another world." Gaap stated._

" _We'll agree to disagree."_

"Listen everyone!" Sakura said, stopping the rants. Ino, Naruto, Sai and Chouji stared at the pinkette, waiting patiently for what she had to say next. "This wasn't exactly planned-

Ino and Naruto spoke together "Yeah I'll say-

"But." Sakura coughed, holding up her hand. "For the time being; I want this to stay between us."

"Until when exactly?" Ino asked, throwing her hands up in the air. "Because eventually, you're going to give yourself away!"

Sakura held her fingers to her lips, indicating Ino to lower her voice. "I know okay. I just want to take my time with this."

Ino let out a heavy breath, shaking her hands in front of her. "This is-this is just crazy Sakura."

"For now, you all need to promise me you won't say anything to anyone." Sakura looked over at everyone in front of her. "Not until I give the word, okay?"

Chouji nodded. "Alright."

"Fine." Ino covered her eyes with her hand, slumping forward.

"Sharing secrets with friends builds a better relationship between them. I won't say anything." Sai said mechanically.

Naruto remained quiet, his expression had gone from shock to solemn; his lip pulled in a thin line, eyes narrowed, eyebrows furrowed together in thought and arms crossed in a defensive manner.

'I should've expected this much.' Sakura thought sighing softly. Walking over to Naruto, she carelessly took his hand and started pulling him away from the group. Despite his protests and the other's questioning looks, she continued to walk away.

With Sakura's strength, she was able to pull Naruto away with ease and fortunately everyone had the sense not to follow after them.

* * *

Sakura managed to pull Naruto all the way to the training grounds, where she, Naruto and Kakashi had their rematch not too long ago. Sakura stopped when they reached the three posts on the field and turned to Naruto. He looked at her briefly before turning away again.

"Naruto; are you really just going to stand there and say nothing?" Sakura asked, folding her arms over her chest.

Naruto continued to stare silently at the sky and Sakura continued to watch him, waiting for his reaction. It seemed that like her parents, it was going to take some time for that to happen. What was she supposed to expect though?

"Ah!" Sakura gasped loudly, clutching her stomach. She crouched down, shutting her eyes tightly.

"Sakura!" Naruto turned around, rushing over to her. "What's wrong? Are you-

Sakura snickered, causing Naruto's hands to freeze as they were reaching out for her. She turned to him with a small smirk on her face. "Gotcha."

Naruto landed back on the grass, clutching his chest. "Dammit, I thought something was wrong with you!"

"Well hopefully nothing will be, because it's not me that's really at risk if that happens right now." Sakura said pointing to her stomach. In truth, Sakura was very cautious about this now because it was in the first three months that a women was at risk of suffering a miscarriage and it wasn't rare either. Of course, Sakura was almost out of the danger zone since it usually occurred between four and six weeks.

Scoffing softly, Naruto turned away again ignoring the piercing gaze he felt on the side of his head from Sakura. "I got it-you're pregnant."

Gripping the grass between her fingers, Sakura threw it into the air; watching the wind carry the strands away. She and Naruto kept their backs facing each other. "You're mad at me."

Naruto didn't respond, with his knees tucked to his chin he kept his gaze low.

"I know that this is an inconvenience for you." Sakura continued, "I never planned for this to happen but it did."

"Why?" Naruto finally spoke, his voice barely above a whisper, but Sakura could hear it through the quietness of the forest.

"I fell in love." Sakura answered simply.

"You love Sasuke." Naruto corrected; digging his fingers into the fabric of his jacket, almost cutting through to his skin.

"I do, love Sasuke."

"Then why!?" Naruto asked harshly. "Why would you just-

"You wouldn't understand."

That statement only seemed to rile Naruto further, the implication that he was incapable of understanding the reason behind Sakura's actions even if she gave him an explanation. It was belittling and it hurt.

"I wouldn't understand what exactly? Why you would claim to be in love with someone but then be with someone else? Yeah you're right, I DON'T UNDERSTAND THAT."

"Naruto…"

In that moment, Sakura wanted to do nothing more than to tell him Naruto the truth. She wanted him to know what she had been through these last few years without him and the rest of her friends but she didn't. She couldn't see the point in telling them about something they couldn't change; it would just aid in making things even more complicated than clarifying.

"I don't understand," Naruto gasped softly, feeling his throat constrict and become dry, his shoulders shaking softly. "How you could have gone to someone else! It's almost like-it's almost like-

"Like what Naruto?" Sakura asked softly.

"It's almost like you've forgotten about him!" Naruto exclaimed, tears flowed on account of anger and pain that the blonde was feeling as he thought about everything that he, Sakura and Sasuke had gone through as a team. The trials they endured. The struggles. The way Sakura always looked at Sasuke with a loving gaze; blushing cheeks, cheering him on, complimenting him. Then when he left, how much she cried for him, her determination to save him. What happened to all of that? Where was that Sakura now?

She couldn't go on missions with him anymore and she couldn't help him rescue Sasuke.

"And you-you asked me to save him! It was a promise and you-you just-

That was another element to this issue that hurt Naruto deeply and that was his own feelings for the emerald eyed kunoichi. He hadn't really minded her change in attitude towards him, it was comforting and flattering, but now that seemed to be poisoned fruit and he took a bite.

Standing up and circling around, Sakura crouched down in front of Naruto as he sobbed, covering his face with his arms. She could see the droplets of warm tears falling from his chin and onto the grass.

"I'm sorry Naruto." Sakura whispered. "There are moments that change your life in a second and when you open your eyes….you're somewhere else; but I came back from there. I know that I hurt you-I know I always hurt you, but that doesn't mean that I'm not going to be there for you. It doesn't mean I don't care about you because I do more than I realized. It's the reason I'm here now-you are the reason I'm here now."

Reaching forward, Sakura wrapped her arms around his shoulders, resting his head on her chest. She could already feel the fabric becoming wet.

As the day drew closer to its end, the sun giving its final moment of light in the grandest gesture by painting the sky with colors of blue, purple, orange and red, tinged and blended; Sakura and Naruto remained as they were the entire time. Neither looking up to see its beauty.

Naruto finally started moving again; he wrapped his arms around Sakura's body, pulling him towards her in a warm embrace against the ever growing cold weather.

"I'm sorry." Naruto said; resting his forehead on her shoulder.

"Don't be." Sakura smiled gently, tears gathering in the corners of her eyes. "You're still here after all."

* * *

Naruto and Sakura seemed to have overcome a barrier after and they were able to go back to the way they were just shortly after. When they walked home together; Naruto asked Sakura what kind of reaction Kakashi had to her news and she bashfully replied she was yet to inform their former sensei about this. Right now the number of people aware of her condition wasn't even in the double digits.

"I suppose I should tell Kakashi-sensei soon. Maybe I'll go and see him tomorrow at the hospital." Sakura said.

Naruto grinned. "We'll go together!"

Sakura smiled, her heart fluttering at her friends boyish grin. He was always quick to recover; even if gradually. He was like the sun. No matter how many times the clouds came to block him; he would always find a way to shine again and when it set, he would leave a lasting memory of warmth.

"Thanks, Naruto."

* * *

"You-You-You're what?" Kakashi stuttered, starring wide-eyed at his two former students at the foot of his hospital bed. Both had their hands folded neatly in front of them and nervous expressions.

Yamato was standing beside his bed, his jaw trying to hit the ground as he stuttered out, "C-Could you repeat that, I think I had a minor stroke."

When Sakura and Naruto went to the hospital the following day to tell Kakashi; Yamato was already there. It didn't cause for any delay, since they were going to need to inform him about Sakura's pregnancy anyway. Of course Yamato and Kakashi were beginning with small talk leading up to Naruto's training, but when the boy showed little interest in it; their attention was turned to them. But before Sakura could ease in; Naruto blurted out that she was having a baby and the two became paralyzed with shock for nearly ten minutes.

"I'm pregnant." Sakura repeated clearly to the men. Kakashi and Yamato stared silently at the two still.

Naruto clicked his fingers several times, "Kakashi-sensei? Captain Yamato? Hello? What's wrong with them?"

"This is called shock paralysis, I think." Sakura replied, clapping her hands to get them to blink. "Kakashi-sensei, Captain Yamato are you…."

Heads slumping forward, followed by the rest as a light thud could be heard in the room as Kakashi and Yamato followed each other like domino's and fell unconscious.

"KA-KAKASHI SENSE!"

"CAPTAIN YAMATO!"

It didn't take long after that for word to get around; Chouji and Ino informed Shikamaru as well as Neji, Tenten and Lee. Followed shortly by the rest of the former rookie nine, Hinata, Shino and Kiba. Once the news got out, everyone went searching high and low for Sakura to confirm if the rumors were true. The regular question came up about who the father was but just like all the other times, Sakura kept that to herself.

 **That's All for now everyone. I thought that some people might be curious as to how everyone reacted to Sakura's pregnancy news, well there you have it. I am going to be writing the next chapter and hopefully have it posted either in a few hours or maybe tomorrow. I've gotta sleep at some point too.**

 **I don't like to give spoilers but we'll be going back to the 'present'.**

 **In the meantime, DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW.**


	7. Present: Through a dungeon-into chaos

**Hello everyone. Well here is the last chapter I will be posting before going back to university. I might not be able to post for a while after this since I have a lot of work I need to get done, but don't worry just keep an eye out and your alerts set.**

 **Read and Enjoy**

* * *

She could feel some kind of pain on her skin, near her chest but scattered all over, it wasn't spreading but each a new point. She gritted her teeth. It wasn't the same as being jabbed with needles, the insertions were too big, too thick, like the tips of a daggers blade. Screams filled her ears, all of the voices she could place and then everything went silent. All she could remember was the shooting pain.

..

..

..

..

..

Ever since the birth of her twins, Sakura had plenty of worries that came along with them. When they were infants, there was a war, their village had been destroyed and the world had nearly come to an end. While Sakura didn't worry much about her own situation as a single mother; she also worried about the questions that her children would ask about their father that wasn't there. She had already decided not to reveal anything about Sinbad's origins; she wanted to keep worlds separated as much as possible. Believing it would only increase the longing for their father that they knew they would never be able to reach.

Sakura knew that coming to that world all those years ago was a miracle, but if that was true and a miracle only happened once, then what would it be called a second time?

* * *

The stone beneath her fingertips felt smooth to the touch with a thick texture, but there were bumps along as well, the further her hand travelled. Eventually curiosity, clouded her line of vision and she opened her eyes, meeting the firm cobble stones with unique designs unlike anything seen on the outside world. Her body felt heavy as she lifted herself, it was as if something had been pressing down on her back.

A closed off room, a door clear on one side with familiar inscription on then and on the other side of the room, there was a pillar standing with a plane silver dagger standing on top with the tip of the blade stuck in the stone. She wouldn't have been able to see any of this in the windowless room if it hadn't been for the small spheres of light that shone, randomly scattered in their air like small flames with nothing to hold it. The sight was magical.

"Where…." Her breath hitched sharply, "Oh no…"

It all came back like a great flood in the confines of Sakura's mind, the appearance of Gyokuen and the dark light that made her feel such distress, a bit of pain and what's more true terror.

"Oh my god."

Soft groaning caused her to look closer around and Sakura found Ino, Hinata, Esra and Badr, lying around her, unconscious. Sakura immediately went to tend to them, gently shaking the twin's shoulders while inspecting for injuries.

"Badr, Esra, babies wake up please."

Slowly, Esra lifted herself from the hard ground, wiping her eyes and wincing at the shockwave of pain in her head.

"What-what's going on?" she asked, opening her eyes only to become shocked the following second, her head darting around rapidly.

Sakura held up her hands, trying to calm the young girl "Esra don't-

"WHERE ARE WE?"

The sudden shriek from the young newly turned ten-year old; had her brother, Hinata and Ino waking up with a start, taking in the their scenery, inhaling sharply before following with their own unanswered questions.

"WHAT THE HELL?" Ino screeched, her eyes darting around.

"Where-where are we?!" Hinata asked, her voice was still soft but strongly panicked.

"WHAT IS THIS PLACE?!" Badr asked.

The voices of the four came all at once and Sakura chose to remain silent, watching them until they would eventually calm themselves before she made any attempt to talk to them. They were just as livid as she had been the first time she entered a djinn's dungeon, so she was able to empathise. Sakura was having a small seizure on the inside either but her initial shock had been taken at Gyokuen's appearance in her home; in her world.

Right now she was just able to place where they were and that it was Gyokuen and that mirror that her twins found that somehow landed them here.

Minutes passed before everyone everyone's voices grew a little silent and Sakura's presence was fully acknowledged. She was quiet in a distressing situation, so naturally she would fade away.

"Mom!" Badr and Esra ran over to their mother and she placed her arms on both of their shoulders.

"What's going on?" asked Esra.

"Yeah, that's what I would like to know too!" Ino said, still looking around. "Where the heck are we? How did we get here?"

Sakura sighed softly, she patted Esra and Badr's head. "Don't worry; I'll figure this out but first we need to get out of this place. That's priority and we need to stay calm."

The pinkette turned especially to her friends, emphasising that it had to be them who remained composed in this time and they were willing to comply.

Hinata looked around carefully. "It doesn't look like there's a way out."

Sakura rubbed the back of her neck, there was no possible way for her to explain everything to her friends and children at this very moment and because she was the only one familiar with this situation; she felt it best to keep things to herself so as not to further distress them. She didn't want them to know just how dire the situation was. There was something weighing heavily on Sakura's mind however. Getting transported here unexpectedly with nothing but the clothes on their backs, came with a lot of draw backs; that included no weapons, no supplies and none of her metal vessels.

"How the hell are we going to get out of here?" asked Ino.

"The doors right there." Sakura pointed to the giant cobble stone doors with Torran inscriptions; they had been written in such a way that.

Ino, Sakura and Hinata made their way to the door, as Sakura claimed but this door had no signs of openings or handles. Ino and Hinata looked at the writing on the door with question.

"What the heck is this writing?"

"I can't read it." Hinata said, narrowing her eyes as she touched the 'door'.

"Sakura, how can you be sure this is a door?" Ino asked, putting a hand on her hip. "Wait, that's not even the first question I should be asking! Who the hell was that women that-

"Hinata," Sakura interjected, silencing her blonde friend. "Can you use your Byakugan and tell me what's behind this door?"

Hinata nodded; although she had plenty of questions herself, she had a feeling that now wasn't the best time to prod Sakura for answers and she wasn't as insistent as Ino. When she activated her Byakugan, her eyes went from pale lavender to completely white, her skin protruded with veins like the roots of a tree along her eyes. Her Byakugan allowed her to see straight through her opponents-literally; it was a way for her to view their chakra networks but in this case, she was attempting to see what was passed the door. Only….

"I can't see anything." Hinata said, reverting her eyes. "Sakura, are you sure that this is a way out?"

"Yes." Sakura crossed her arms, never taking her eyes off the door.

Ino held up her hand before retracting it, "So um…how exactly do you know that this is a door?"

Sakura pointed to the inscriptions, "Because this says it is."

"You can read that?" Ino raised her eyebrow. Her suspicions were only growing further for her pink haired friend. As well as her worry.

"Kids come over here." Sakura called, not looking behind her.

Badr and Esra were watching from a distance as the three women attempted to find a way out of this unusual place. Badr went to eyeing the dagger on the pedestal, going up and reaching out for it. Esra slapped her brother's arm away before he could touch it.

"What the heck sis?" Badr winced, holding his arm.

"Don't even think about it. We're in enough trouble because of you picking up things." Esra hissed softly.

"What does that mean?"

Esra jutted her hip to the side-it was more like her entire torso though, she put a hand on her side. "It was that mirror-necklace that somehow got us into this mess."

"Yeah, well let's not forget about that women too. It looks like mom's pretty familiar with her and we ended up here after she showed up." Badr countered before he resumed to reaching up for the dagger again.

"Badr!" Esra seethed, glancing behind her to make sure that the three women were still occupied on the opening the door before turning back to her brother. "Badr; you're going to make things worse-I don't know how but I just know you're going to. It's kinda your gift."

Raising his arms and then bringing them down dramatically to slap at his sides, Badr turned around to face his sister. "Esra, look around; we're trapped in some unknown place; with no weapons to defend ourselves-I doubt it can get any worse."

With that, Badr went to reach for the dagger.

"To achieve what is desired, overcome the lands. Each holds a key to the next in order to reach the treasury. The fruit of tranquil. The heart of stone. The blood of innocence. Only those who can see with eyes unclouded are those who will be able to enter this holy fort." Sakura translated.

"Eh what-

Ino wasn't able to get more than that out before the doors split in the middle and began to open. The tremor shook them all as the doors continued to open up to a narrow hallway of cobble stone. Appearing harmless, but Sakura knew that the security was a false promise of safety and protection.

"Badr, Esra, come over here." Sakura called, barely glancing back; anxious for what might lie ahead.

The twins ran over to their mother and her friends, watching as the door just opened fully. Sakura put her hands on her children's shoulder's bringing them closer towards her.

"Stay close to me and do not wander off, or touch anything without be giving the okay." Sakura instructed firmly.

Esra gave her brother a pointed look but he simply shook his head, his expression asking for his twin's silence about already breaking their mother's rules before they were set.

"Sakura," Ino stepped in front of the pinkette, "Could you at least explain-

"Save any questions you have for me once we're out of this place. Stay still too long and you'll lose your life. That I can guarantee." Sakura stated, narrowing her eyes. "Right now; our top priority is getting out of here. You don't realize the amount of danger we're in but I do. We're not even on the outside world."

"Then where are we?" Ino asked, exasperated, frustrated and a bite fearful after Sakura's statement.

"It's called a dungeon."

..

..

..

..

..

The entire hallway looked like it had collided with a cave, jagged rocks that looked like black marble, with unreadable markings and carvings all over. The strange globes of light was all that kept their path clear. There were elaborate twists and turns, but as time went by, nothing happened. There was a constant tension that remained around the five as they made their way through the maze of halls.

Sakura was kept on constant edge, it wasn't hard to see that. She was looking out for any traps that this dungeon was bound to have. After telling everyone where they were; she didn't elaborate on the details because it would without a doubt slow them down. Her mind was wandering between escaping this dungeon and what it would lead to. She had been walking along a thin bridge of lies to avoid dropping into the truth below and now there were obstacles being hurled at her from all angles which was making it harder for her not to lose her balance.

"This place is like a maze, where's the exit?" Badr grumbled crossing is arms.

"If only it was that simple." Sakura patted her son's head. "Don't' worry, just stay close to me."

Ino and Hinata were walking a little ways behind Badr and Esra, who were placed in the middle of their formation for maximum protection. Leaning over toward Hinata, Ino whispered to her.

"So, it is only me who thinks that Sakura's hiding something bigger from us?" Ino whispered.

Glancing at Sakura, Hinata looked over to Ino again, "What do you mean exactly?"

"First it was that women that appeared out of nowhere and now this place. All of which Sakura is familiar with. I feel like something more is going on and Sakura knows it but she just doesn't want to explain it to us." Ino said

Hinata gave a short nod, "I also have that feeling, but I think that right it might be better to wait for Sakura to decide when to tell us. She seems to be on edge right now."

"Yeah, I guess so." Ino sighed, "Wouldn't want her to come unhinged."

That wouldn't be good for anyone.

"I can see something up ahead." Sakura said without looking back, she picked up her pace.

In a distance, there was an opening of a door in a dome shape, there was a bright light coming from it that clouded their vision.

"Hinata, can you see up ahead?"

Hinata nodded to Sakura, stepping forward about to activate her Byakugan to check for anything unusual (aside from everything right in front of them). It was strange, there was a whole pathway through passed those doors and yet she wasn't able to see through them, it made her wonder what kind of place this so called 'Dungeon' was. What it entailed for them, having this kind of effect on their abilities.

"I don't see anything unusual."

"Let's go!" Badr said, eager to get out of this strange place, but barely five steps were taken before he froze.

The tense and silent walk did not last for much longer, after a low rumbling could be heard and the narrow hallways began to grown even narrower. The walls were begging to close in, ready to crush whatever came through it.

"Let's move!" Sakura said, grabbing Esra's hand. She ran over to Badr and did the same, grabbing a hold of him his wrist and pulling him towards the exit. Pumping chakra their feet, their speed increasing beyond normal human's capacity. With the walls becoming narrower every passing second, soon the walls were barely inches away from crushing everyone inside of it.

"HURRY" Sakura screamed, glancing back at her friends, pushing Badr and Esra forward so that they could run in front.

* * *

Although it had been close, they finally reached the entrance to the next unknown room of the dungeon; Sakura practically threw Badr and Esra through it before leaping in after, joined by Hinata and Ino just as there was a loud rumbling of the walls clashing together in close. Blocking off the way back.

Ino shook her head, moving to walk forward through the dark area, "Well that was-whoa!"

"Ino what's-Ah!" Sakura had only take a step before she felt herself falling, leaning back she could feel a wall of some sorts and kept against it as she continued to fall, along with Hinata, Ino, Badr and Esra.

It was like going down a slide at a high altitude, the echoing of everyone's surprised screams bounced off the walls before they finally landed on the ground. Rolling over one another ungracefully before piling on top of one another.

Badr let out a breath, dusting off his arms he laughed. "That wasn't so bad."

"Speak for yourself!" Esra exclaimed underneath her brother, her stomach pressed painfully on the ground. "Get off of me!"

"Sure thing Mini-Monster." Badr was the first to stand up, joined shortly after by Sakura, Esra, Ino and Hinata.

Hinata adjusted her top as she lifted herself up. "T-That was close."

"Like I said before don't let your guard down. These places are fully of traps." Sakura warned again, running a hand through her hair.

Ino crossed her arms, "Yeah Sakura, I'm getting the sneaking suspicion you've been here before."

"Not exactly." Sakura spoke, all while inspecting Badr and Esra for any injuries and once she was certain they were perfectly well she stood back up again. "But that's technically true."

"What does that mean, Sakura?" Hinata asked.

"Yea, we'd like to know exactly what's going on. We might be able to help more if-

"I told you, explanations can wait until we're out of here. It won't change anything for me to explain it to you now."

Ino was taken aback by Sakura's sharp edged tone in that statement; it actually pricked her. Yet it wasn't a stinging she hadn't felt before due to Sakura's behaviour.

Sakura looked back, "Just follow my lead."

It looked as if they had landed in a cave, the sources of light were coming from bright multi-coloured neon, oval shaped rocks that were lying all about the cave; in a dungeon this kind of thing wasn't that unusual but there was a sweetening odour that seemed to be coming off the walls.

"These are beautiful." Ino said, leaning towards one of the rocks.

"Don't touch anything." Sakura warned everyone right before Ino could make contact with the rock.

Sakura was about a few seconds off on her warning though, because Badr and Esra were also looking at the spheres curiously and ended up touching one of it; the second they did however its illuminating colour started to change to a bright red and then the rock itself began to crack and seep out a black, odourless liquid but when it came into contact with the floor there was a sizzling noise and smoke appearing from where the liquid had run; the floor sinking in to gather more before it started to spread.

"Oops." The twins muttered together, running over to their mother.

Sakura looked at her children annoyed and exasperated, "What is not clear to you about the phrase 'do no touch'!?"

"Those rocks are surprisingly fragile." Badr replied and Esra nodded in agreement.

The liquid seeping wasn't nearly enough to spread all the way to where they were-or so it seemed.

"Hey um, what's this on the floor?" Hinata pointed down and everyone looked. There were indentations in the ground, leading around in a matter towards the other neon glowing rocks, it was taking in the liquid and leading towards the rest.

"Oh no." Sakura swallowed.

Ino, Hinata, Badr, Esra and Sakura were soon running at top speed to get away from the gushing flow of the black water. There had a trigger chain reaction and soon they were attempting to out run a flood. The walls were narrow and unlike the maze before, only lead them one way. No one was really able to think about where they were going when they were attempting to escape from that.

The race continued throughout the entire cave-like structure; the flood did not cease as there were plenty more sources of that acidic material to keep going and keep the Konoha kunoichi and twins running for their lives.

"Did we do that?" Badr asked as they continued to run.

"What do you think?" Sakura asked, glancing back at the black wave following after them. "Speed up!"

* * *

They came to a clearing on their next turn and there was another open doorway higher up but it was indicating a rather lengthy climb because of the high walls that would need to be overcome; it also didn't show any signs of openings or large enough crevices so remaining in that clearing for long with the acidic black tsunami following after them wouldn't have a pleasant result. In this case luckily, chakra was going to come at an advantage.

"Let's go!" Sakura said, pulling Badr and Esra forward and waiting for them to start climbing first; then turning to Ino and Hinata. "Go."

Sakura followed after them.

The multiple ledges leading up to the door that would have been difficult for a professional rock climber to reach one at a time, were merely stepping stones for the five kunoichi and ninja-in-training, as they leapt into the air and onto the stones, one at a time as the liquid came to a halt and started gathering in the open area, forming a pool that wouldn't stop filling.

Sakura barely made the final leap as the rock was engulfed by the liquid and started to dissolve. They rushed through the open doorway; some silently dreading what might happen next. The instant they all passed through the door vanished, flashing white before disappearing into nothing, sealing off the way they had come.

"And…" Sakura panted softly, "This is why-we-don't-touch-anything!"

Ino sunk down to her knees panting softly, not so much of exhaustion as from the shock. "Okay; it's like this place is trying to kill us..."

"It is." Sakura confirmed. "Which is why we need to get out of here soon."

"Well, at least it can't get any worse right?" Esra asked, silently hoping that she was right.

"Unfortunately, it can." Sakura said gravely before she walked over to the next door that was sealed. There was a rectangular shaped carving that implied something belonged there; in Sakura's experience that was usually a key but she couldn't see it anywhere.

* * *

It didn't take long for everyone to discover that Sakura telling the truth; the minutes in the dungeon passed and became hours. It was not a straight path either, making their way through the endless caves, requiring long climbs, some across ledges narrow enough to only stand on the tips of their feet but with Sakura's instruction; everyone was lead safely through everything. All throughout this, no one dared to ask Sakura about the truth that was obviously hiding about this place for she lead them with purpose; more so than anyone else would have in this case. Despite all the traps, there was something that was yet to appear….what was a dungeon classic….

Sakura was concerned because they were yet to encounter any dungeon monsters and basing from experience, there were usually plenty.

'Something doesn't feel right.'

* * *

Finally, they came to a clear with a source of light from the outside shining from high above; too far to make out exactly what was causing it. Right in the middle of the circle of stone was a tablet with familiar scripture to Sakura only and nearly right behind it, was another entranceway into the unknown that was the dungeon.

"Here lies the fruit of tranquil. To enter the next gate. Take only what you need but never for greed." Sakura read, before starring at the darkly lit entrance of the doorway. "Alright let's go."

Everyone followed after the pinkette as she headed towards the entrance way, no sign of wavering or hesitance. By now, Badr and Esra were clearly suffering from fatigue, they hadn't really stopped due to the dangerous terrain and traps that were constant. The situation was far more taxiing on the ten-year olds.

"Sakura, can we please take a short break before we go any further?" Ino said. "I know that we can keep up this pace but Badr and Esra are exhausted."

Sakura turned around, to her children. Although they were faring well, she could see on their faces that they were quite fatigued.

"We're fine." Esra said quickly.

"Yeah, we can take it!" Badr said, putting on a strained smile.

Sakura looked ahead at the entrance way. Chances were, there was going to be more obstacles in their way now and they had been going for hours now.

"We'll take a break." Sakura walked back to Badr and Esra; after what seemed like hours she gave a wry smile patting their heads. "Everyone should actually get some rest…I doubt it's going to get any better from here on anyway.

It didn't take more than a few minutes for Badr and Esra to fall asleep; their heads resting on their mother's lap while Ino, Sakura and Hinata remained awake and vigilant. Their stamina still holding strong; despite the obstacles they were faced with; it wasn't as taxing on them in comparison to the children who were not use to this kind of endurance, even with Sakura's training.

Ino sighed, rubbing her shoulder as she caught a knot underneath her skin. "You know Sakura, now that we're not running for our lives, would you care to answer a few of our questions?"

Sakura closed her eyes, leaning her head back against the smooth rocks. "Such as what Ino?"

"Don't give me that!" Ino snapped. "Let's start with the women that appeared out of nowhere, who was she?"

Hinata nodded softly, "You did seem to know her."

"That's because I did." Sakura replied, her brow twitching as she thought back to Gyokuen. From the moment Sakura met the women, she had felt something odd about her but she didn't' know how to place her.

"How?"

"This is not the best time to be giving you that answer." Sakura stated calmly and Ino appeared as if she was about to lose her patience but before she could, Sakura spoke again. "I'll tell you this much; we're not going to be anywhere near Konoha when we get out of here."

"Sakura, what do mean by that?" Hinata asked softly, worry filing her as Sakura remained quiet.

"Do you know where we are?"

Sakura smiled bitterly, "Yes and no."

Little did Ino and Hinata know that Sakura had other things on her mind aside from escaping the dungeon; that included what they were going to do one they were out and where they would be.

What should have been a terrifying and provoking through was yet to have its effect on Sakura as she attempted to truly register that when they left this dungeon, they were going to be back in that world. The world she had been sent to years ago, the one she had narrowly managed to leave and the world where _he_ was. The world that _he_ was trying to change; what's more….

Sakura looked down at Badr and Esra, running her hands over their faces gently. 'What am I going to do?'

* * *

A few hours later, Sakura woke up Badr and Esra before leading everyone through the entrance way. It took but a few minutes before they came into a clearing; the light of what felt like the sun shone brightly over them.

There was a magnificent garden, the grass bright with an appealing aesthetic that went beyond natural. The trees neatly woven in groves with ripe fruit, tantalizing to see. The sound of a waterfall was vividly clear in the distance. In the centre of this garden, there was a single stem standing up on the grass, high on top was a round sphere, bright red without a spec of dirt or indentation.

"That must be what we're looking for." Sakura said; making her way over to it.

"Are you sure?" asked Ino.

"It's too obvious not to be." Sakura pointed out. She then began looking around the area with sharp eyes. "Although this might be the time to keep a sharp eye out for anything suspicious."

"As opposed to everything else?" Ino asked sarcastically.

Badr, Ino, Esra and Hinata looked around at the other fruits hanging. Ino caught sight of a few apples dangling down. After being trapped in a dungeon for hours; no one had eaten anything.

"So glad there's something here, because I am starving." Ino said, reaching out to pick one of the fruits.

"I-Ino, are you sure that's' alright?" Hinata asked, "Sakura did tell us not to touch anything without her consent."

Ino frowned, "Hinata, I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one starving right now."

"Aunt Ino's not wrong." Badr admitted, putting his hand over his stomach.

"Still, mom did say not to take anything." Esra added nervously glancing back at her mother who hadn't looked back at them yet.

Ino held a finger to her lips, "What your mom doesn't know won't hurt her."

"No but if she finds out, it'll hurt us." Badr muttered back.

Sakura reached for the unknown fruit on the vine, plucking it with ease from its stem. The waterfall behind started to split, opening like two curtains in revealing the next doorway.

"Well that was easier than expected-

"MOM HELP"

Or so it seemed, until Sakura heard yelps and shrieking from behind her. Turning around; Sakura saw Ino, Hinata, Badr and Esra struggling against vines that were reaching out for them from them the trees, emerging from the grass. The environment started shifting; everything becoming shades darker.

"What did you do?!"

Sakura felt the ground beneath her shifting and instinctually jumped out of the way. Vines reached out toward Sakura line extended limbs with the intent to capture and restrain but she managed to leap back in time, although that victory was short lived.

The ground shifted from where she took the fruit and it began to close in four sections that looked like petals, a plant-like creature emerging, its legs were multiple roots that detached from the ground. Its shadow covered Sakura completely and there was only one thing Sakura had to say.

"Alright; who touched something!?"

"AUNT INO" The twins chimed.

"Thanks a lot!" Ino was currently tugging against a few of the vines that had wrapped around her and were hoisting her up into the air.

Hinata straightened her stance, she held her hands out at her sides, activating her Byakugan. A flow of purple chakra emerged from her hands. She struck the vines that were hoisting at Ino, Badr and Esra. Setting them free.

Hinata glanced back to the pinkette, "Sakura, look out!"

"Dammit, next time listen to me!" Sakura exclaimed. Ducking down, she avoided a fast swinging vine that headed straight for her. She jumped onto one of the thick roots that were swung at her-she already knew what it felt like to get whipped like that and it was not an experience she wanted to have again. Jumping into the air, Sakura came back down, punching the creature with full force that the ground cracked and broke as easily as glass.

Everyone looked at the battered plant-creature as it lied in the ground of what was now its grave. It was still attempting to move, so Sakura gave it one final punch to silence it and that was all she needed.

Badr leaned over to Esra, "I nearly forgot how scary mom is."

"Yeah, me too." Esra mumbled.

"Hey, does this mean we can eat the fruit now?" Ino asked.

Sakura was about to retort when a cracking caught her ears, looking down, the grass started to turn grey, along with everything else, the fruit on the trees until it was all just a crusted grey and when Sakura stepped on the grass it crumbled like dust beneath her feet. There was a loud rumbling and the area began to turn to dust and a darkness began to fall over everything.

"What is happening now?" asked Esra, looking around with wide eyes.

"What is this?" asked Hinata

"That's the signal to leave."

Everyone was off once again through the next door, after Sakura read the writing on it; it immediately opened for them. "The heart of stone lies ahead. Danger is only in the eye of the beholder. For it takes but one move to tame it and one to anger."

* * *

They were travelling through yet another pathway, it was more like a tunnel; the walls were glowing a light neon blue, structured in the forms of rings with nothing else in sight. Sakura didn't chastise Ino too much; they had only come to this dungeon with nothing but the clothes on their backs after all and it wasn't like food was something that just laid around. Most of the time there were only things that wanted to eat you.

"Next time, just tell me please." Sakura told them. "Almost everything in this place is designed to kill you. Including anything that looks edible."

"We noticed." Esra deadpanned.

Coming to the end of the tunnel to the next doorway had lead them to yet another unusual scene; they were outside, somewhere high above the clouds along cliffs, a heavy wind blowing across them.

"How is this possible?" asked Hinata; she hadn't been the only one to notice the continuous shift in the environments. Especially in that last doorway. She assumed they were trapped in some sort of cave but that didn't seem to be the case.

Sakura sighed, "We're still inside the dungeon; the only way to get out is to make it through this and into the treasury."

"What happens after that?" asked Hinata.

"You'll see when we get there." Sakura replied. She didn't feel like explanation the concept of a djinn until they actually made it to the end of the dungeon where they would be able to witness it for themselves.

* * *

After a few minute of following along a path, they came to a halt as they reached a dead end, with only one way forward. A stone bridge, leading to a golden pavilion standing a large pillar stone in the fog of nothing created by the clouds.

"Well, looks like this is next." Sakura said about to step forward when Badr grabbed her wrist.

"Hold on mom, something feels strange."

"Yeah." Esra nodded; she picked up a pebble from the ground. Throwing it in front of them, the single pebble caused the entire bridge of stone to disconnected and fall down into the nothing of clouds.

Sakura gasped softly, looking back at the two. "How did you know that would happen?"

Badr shrugged, "I didn't-just a feeling…."

"How are we supposed to get over there then?" asked Hinata.

Sakura frowned; she was completely stuck on this one; although she didn't have much time to think of an alternative solution when a loud noise erupted and caused everyone to close their ears. From the clouds emerged a huge created with wings spread; its body coated in silver scales; its dark red slit eyes fell on the ground. It resembled a dragon, with a larger external structure.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Ino, Badr and Esra exclaimed.

"MOVE" Sakura instructed everyone once she saw the creature coming towards them.

Badr watched as the monster opened its mouth and swooped down towards them. They all had to scatter in order to avoid getting swallowed by the beast. Then it flew back up, surveying them and then moved back down to strike again. This continued on for several times, because of that everyone was hardly able to regain their footing before they were back on the ground and couldn't counter.

Sakura rolled on the ground, when she came to a stop she called loudly "Hinata, Ino help me take this thing down-

This time when the creature opened its mouth, pass its fangs and near the throat a small light started to glow and grown until a beam short from it and came straight towards the five, it struck the rocks and scattered them.

Esra winced as some of the rubble ended up hitting her and the force of the blast knocking her back, near the end of the cliff.

"Esra!" Sakura ran over to grab her daughter, bringing her back away from the edge with a slight toss to get her out of danger. That didn't keep the creature from swooping in for more attacks. As it came towards them, Sakura leapt into the air to meet it halfway, her fist drawn back.

"TAKE THIS." When Sakura was about to make contact with the dungeon monster's head, she felt a sharp shooting in her arm, and upon close inspection saw that right before she was able to hit, there was some kind of ripple of a barrier that was keeping her from attack. The sheer force and physical strength was however able to push it back.

"Sakura!" Hinata and Ino exclaimed, running over to their friend.

"What's wrong?" asked Hinata, looking at the pinkette's injured arm.

"That thing has some kind of shield protecting it from attacks."

"So now what do we do?" asked Esra, coming up beside them with Badr.

"DUCK"

Realizing that the creature was coming back for another attack, Badr quickly pushed Esra out of the way and everyone soon followed as it swooped down towards them. Missing, it went back into the air for a retry. This continued several times; there wasn't a lot of room to move around in this situation. Firing a beam at them from time to time.

"WE CAN'T KEEP THIS UP FOREVER." Ino said dogging again. They had been ducking and dodging but there wasn't a lot of room to run around or away on.

"Sakura-

"I'M THINKING."

Again, the creature opened its mouth, firing a beam of light at the group, this time lasting longer than the rest, the fragile earth shook on impact and in in the mist of the crashing rocks, Sakura had to roll out of the way and ended up letting go of the fruit; it rolled towards the end of the cliff.

"I got it!" Badr said, rushing forward.

"Badr NO!" Sakura screamed, but she wasn't able to reach him before another attempted attack occurred.

Another time, Badr was knocked back and ended up skidding across the ground before felling his body slipping halfway off the cliff. Snapping his eyes opened, Badr grabbed the fruit and clutched the end of the cliff with his other; his fingernails digging into the soft earth as his weight continued to make him sink.

"BADR" he heard everyone calling him.

The creature's attention fell on the currently helpless boy and began swooping towards him, Badr saw a ledge on his right and swung himself to the side before letting go, landing safely on it and avoiding the monsters attack one more time however it came back.

"Badr!" Sakura's head appeared on the edge. "Hold on!"

While Badr looked at the fruit in his hands and back to the creature in front of him. "The heart of stone lies ahead. Danger is only in the eye of the beholder. For it takes but one move to tame it and one to anger…..could it be…?"

As the unnamed beast made its way towards Badr, the boy stared straight at it, holding up his hand with the fruit it in and watched as the giant wings flapped once again, heading towards him. Badr smirked.  
"Come and get me!"

With that he jumped off and into the mist.

"BADR"

"Sakura no!" Ino and Hinata grabbed a hold of the pinkette as she attempted to throw herself over the edge of the cliff. Hinata had to reach out and grab Esra as well as she ran forward, afraid that she might attempt to do the same.

Sakura felt as if her heart had stopped; Ino and Hinata were still holding the pinkette back, afraid that she would jump after her son. Tears gathered in the corners of Sakura and Esra's eyes, but then the creature that had gone after Badr in the fall emerged with the boy on its back. Making his way to the pavilion in the sky.

"BADR" the girls exclaimed in delight and relief.

Badr gave a short wave to the four females before he climbed off the creatures back and onto the pavilion; gathering the 'heart of stone' as instructed. Another door then emerged on the pavilion with a shaped like the heart of stone in the position where the handles should be and the bridge that had previously crumbled reformed for Sakura and everyone else to cross. Which they couldn't' wait to do.

Badr grinned back at the girls who came running towards him in relief. "You had to feed it in order to tame it. I just gave the fruit to that thing and it calmed right down-Oof!"

Badr was caught in a tight hug from his mother, "I am so glad you're okay."

Esra grinned, attempting to calm her beating heart. "I knew you weren't as useless as I thought. Wait so you dropped on purpose?"

"Yeah pretty much." Badr grinned.

Hinata put her hand over her chest, heaving a heavy sigh. "Badr…"

Ino grinned, "You're gutsy kid."

Sakura pulled away from him, "I am just so glad you're safe…." Then Sakura's face hardened, her eyes blazing mad. "If you ever do anything like that again, you will not be making it to eleven young man!"

"Got it." Badr grinned, already use to his mother's recurring, worry-threatening combo's. Esra had that to and he referred to them as being 'temperamental.' Half temper and half mental.

Then Sakura looked and the heart of stone; she took it and went to put it in place in the slot however nothing happened when she did it. Sakura frowned.

"What?"

"What's wrong?" asked Hinata.

"It's not opening."

"What?" Ino asked, swallowing thickly. "What do you mean it's not opening?"

"I mean it's not opening!" Sakura said, "The key first but…wait there's something written…."

Sakura looked at the inscription around the key slot, tilting her head slightly to make out the reading as it circled and shaped around in a heart.

"To enter this holy fort ahead. The heart must be turned red. With the blood of an innocent carved from a blade of silver at the beginning. Only the untainted shall it cut without consuming."

Ino raised her eyebrow, "Okay, I'm not too big on riddles but that one is kinda worrisome."

"The blood of an innocent…." Hinata trailed.

"Carved by silver…" Esra and Badr glanced at one another; it took but a moment for them to put the riddle together.

"The dagger!"

"Right!" Badr pointed back at his sister before taking out the dagger from his back. Sakura was taken aback when she saw her son draw out the same dagger she had seen sitting on that pedestal.

"Suppose I should've taken that." Sakura said.

Hinata narrowed her eyes, looking at the door. "But the blood of an innocent…?"

Sakura looked back at the inscription. "The blood which has not been tainted."

"Well innocent-meaning what like those who haven't committed sin?" Ino asked.

Hinata put her hand under her chin in through, "Well, if that's true then we can't be included."

That was true, the blood of those who haven't committed sins definitely could not be said for adults, let alone kunoichi who have fought in a war.

"So we're ruled out." Ino sighed.

"What kind of human being is completely innocent?" asked Hinata

"Naruto?" Ino chided.

Hinata shook her head and Sakura started laughing lightly, slapping her forehead, "Maybe a few years ago when he was still a kid…."

Badr and Esra gasped, looking at one another, giving a nod.

"I've got this!" Badr said, drawing the blade, he cut himself in his hand and touched the stone heart. The blood seeped in and turned the stone completely red, as if it had sunken into the cracks and completely changed the colour in the inside..

"BADR!" Sakura exclaimed, not expecting her son to suddenly cut himself, but Badr had already gone to place the stone in the slot and this time the gate opened a bright light engulfing them.

…

…

….

"Where are we now?" Ino asked.

"We're inside…." Sakura trailed looking around.

"You're inside my treasury." A new voice chided causing everyone to spin around. There was blue smoke that began to take on the form of a women, with blue skin, wavy dark blue hair, light green eyes and a third eye. She wore a piece of fabric around her ample chest and waist, jewels adorned her body; she had a soft young face. Although she was colossal.

Ino, Hinata, Esra and Badr were starring with wide eyes and open mouths. Barely able to utter a word.

"I am Vapula, djinn of purity and light. Who is the one that bathed the stone heart red?"

Unfortunately, Ino, Hinata, Badr and Esra were a bit too awestruck for words and therefore could not reply. Sakura didn't reply because she knew the answer.

"What, are you all incapable of replying? Fine I shall find my kings candidate myself." Vapula looked down at the twins, her eyes landed on Badr. "Ah, you were the one who passed my test!"

"What-What?" Badr breathed, still struggling to comprehend the sight of the djinn before him.

"Ah, how wonderful, my king's candidate is such a cute child!" Vapula gushed fondly, she dipped her finger on the boys head and nuzzled him. "I was wondering if I would ever find an innocent to become my king. That's the reason I set my tasks out in such a manner."

Vapula then got a closer look at all of them, "Hold on a moment….you're all interlopers!"

"So, you can tell." Sakura said calmly, although she was moving in front of her children to shield them from the djinn's sight.

"Of course I can. All djinn can tell such things." Vapula said, arching her arms at her sides. "I can also tell that three of you here are completely unsuitable to be king's candidates. And that two of you…" Vapula gestured to Ino and Hinata. "Are incapable of utilizing magoi."

"S-Sakura; what is going on!?" Ino panted. "What is that thing!?"

Vapula took to responding, "I believe I already introduced myself; I am Vapula."

"She's a djinn." Sakura replied solemnly.

"What is that?" asked Hinata.

Vapula scoffed, putting her hands on her hips, "I can tell that you're clearly new to this. Not much of a surprise since you're all interlopers."

"Why is she calling us interlopers?" Ino asked, her frustrations and fears of the unknown beginning to balance on her chart of priorities.

"Well now, I think I should get acquainted with my king's candidate…" Vapula said, leaning over Sakura to Badr. She gushed. "He's so cute!"

Sakura stepped forward, "Wait a minute, he's only a child! And you're going to accept him as your king's candidate?"

"A child that has passed my test." Vapula corrected. "See, I preferred an innocent to give my power to. That is why I conducted that specific sort of test to conquer my dungeon. There is no other as innocent as a child."

"Wait a minute, what exactly does that mean?" Badr asked, peering behind his mother.

"It means I am going to give you the power of a king." Vapula stated.

"Power of a king?" Esra looked questionably between the djinn and her brother.

"You cannot be serious." Sakura said, voicing her disbelief. "He's only a boy, what's more he doesn't understand any of this, let alone what it means to be a king's candidate. He's not from this world."

"It matters not in a dungeon; anyone can become a king. Except for those who cannot wield the power of magoi; like these two." Vapula pointed to Hinata and Ino.

Sakura bit the inside of her cheeks; realizing that what the djinn said was correct, although nothing was sitting well with her being in this dungeon and her son getting a djinn's metal vessel wasn't helping either.

'Not to mention; I don't have any of mine with me.'

Ino erupted them, throwing her arms up. "Okay that's it, I can't take it anymore! Sakura what the hell is going on because it looks like you're the only one who really understands what is happening?"

"Ino its not-

"Don't you dare tell me it's not going to make a difference, I want an explanation right now!"

Hinata nodded softly, "Sakura, you have been vague about everything that's happened so far. Why won't you give us a straight answer to our questions?"

There was silence in the dungeon's treasury then, Sakura realized that all eyes had fallen on her, waiting for an explanation and so she gave it to them. Sakura sighed. "The questions are simple but it's the answers that are complicated."

"Well try and uncomplicated them." Ino ordered.

"Escaping this dungeon isn't our only problem," Sakura began, "When we get out of this place; we're going to find ourselves trapped in another world."

"WHAT" everyone's voice echoed through the treasury causing Vapula to cover her ears.

Sakura sighed, "That mirror that Badr and Esra found is what transferred us into this other world. Although I'm not too sure how to get back home this time."

"This time...?" Hinata trailed softly.

Sakura swallowed thickly, facing everyone. "I've been here before."

Sakura gave a brief breakdown of what had happened almost more than ten years ago; when she had come across a mirror that transferred her into a dungeon where she met her first djinn Beleth who gave her the explanation of the dungeons and the djinns that dwelled within it as well as the Looking Glass. She also told them that the dungeons is where she had obtained her power to transform as they had seen her do; but she wasn't able to do that now because she didn't have any of her metal vessels on her. Of course she excluded certain 'details' regarding her dungeon stories and her time in the other world; like the actual time she had spent there-and the people she had met.

Ino rubbed the sides of her head, attempting to understand what she had just been told. "So wait a minute. When you said we wouldn't be anywhere near Konoha you meant…

"We're going to be in another world." Hinata finished with wide eyes.

Sakura nodded, "Exactly; I didn't want to make anyone panic."

On further observation Sakura realized that everyone was panting heavily in distress, their mouths going dry and their throats getting tight.

"Well….great job on that." Ino replied, a hint of sarcasm laced with her short breaths.

"Hey you asked!" Sakura pointed out.

"So how do we get back to….our world?" Esra tugged on Sakura's dress.

"That's the problem," Sakura turned to Vapula. "You wouldn't happened to have received a shard from the Looking Glass have you?"

Vapula shook her head, "Sorry interloper, can't say I have. I don't know how you all came into my dungeon but it wasn't via the power of a magi's Looking Glass."

Ino held up her hand in question. "What does that mean exactly?"

"Means I'm going to have to figure out another way to get us out of here." Sakura stated solemnly.

Thinking back, from what Sakura could remember of that mirror-it didn't seem like a Looking Glass to her-something similar definitely but not the same. Basing off of having Yunan's Looking Glass before. This posed another problem; which was figuring out how to get herself her friends and her children back home to their world.

Sakura heaved a heavy sign, rubbing her eyes. "Well; I suppose that we'll have to take this one step at a time. For now let's get out of this dungeon."

Vapula grinned, throwing her arm out to the side, a magic circle appeared on the ground. "There's your exit." She then looked over at Badr, still smiling as she vanished into a flash of light, circulating around the dungeon and then straight into the locket Badr had received for his birthday. An eight pointed star appearing.

"What's-

"That's now your metal vessel, Badr." Sakura said, patting his head. "Let's get out of here."

* * *

When it was time to leave the dungeon, Sakura told everyone to take a small amount of the treasure that they could carry. Since they were going to be going to the outside world, they were definitely going to need some sort of currency, especially when they came here with nothing. There was also the matter of figuring out where to go from here but that was left to Sakura to decide.

'Should I try and find him…?' She shook her head the second after the thought crossed her mind. Things were complicated enough already with having Ino, Hinata, Esra and Badr here with her in this world. Reaching out to him would only enhance that. Although it was tempting.

Everyone was sitting on the magic circle, created by Vapula to bring them out of the dungeon and to the new world outside. Sitting around in a circle, there was mostly silence. After Sakura explained that she had been to this world before; things had become tense from the shocking revelation. One of which they realized that there was no way anyone from their world was going to be able to save them.

"Why did you tell us anything?" Ino asked, breaking the silence. "About coming to another world, about getting your powers from these djinns in dungeons?"

Esra, Hinata and Badr all looked at Sakura waiting for the answer and the pinkette just chucked humorously, "Would you have believed me if I told you?"

There was silence in response.

"Besides, I didn't think it mattered because there was no possible way for me to go back to this world. I thought I left it behind for good." Sakura inhaled sharply, her fingers grazing the rings around her neck as a habit whenever she would think about this world.

'It did leave me with a peace of it thought…'

"Well it doesn't seem like this now." Hinata said. "It was that women who brought us here right?"

Sakura nodded, "Yeah, Gyokuen. More specifically, Al-Thamen."

Badr chided in, "Who are they mom?"

"Some organisation in this world; I can't really explain the details because I wasn't aware of them myself. I don't know why they are doing this, why they targeted me or what they want…."

Everyone fell silent when they hear it.

There was a crack; a small crack in the magic circle, a light began to seep from it but something was wrong in this. Sakura stood up immediately looking around her, everyone else following her lead.

'What's happening-

Once Again, they were all swallowed by a bright light, feeling as if their bodies were being pushed by a force indescribable and then falling into darkness. The last thing the five heard, was the screams of each other and then silence.

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

The air that brushed across Sakura's skin was cold, the sand beneath her hands sifted roughly against the open palm of her hand and irritated her skin. Opening her eyes, she was met with nothing but a light illumination of the moon on the earth. Ino and Hinata were already started to shift and awaken but upon further inspection along the empty desert area, dread filled her quickly. Her eyes searching through the darkness for her children only to find neither.

"Hinata, Ino wake up!" Sakura exclaimed, standing up to walk around. "Badr and Esra are gone!"

The two women were automatically brought out of their drowsy state, standing up, removing some sand that had crept pass the layers of their clothes; which was far from adequate for the desert.

"Where are they?" asked Hinata, looking around they were somehow outside, but she did not know where exactly.

"BADR"

"ESRA"

..

..

..

..

There was a light burning sensation on Esra's face as she began to awaken, despite knowing that she was completely still; her body still felt the sensation of a bumpy motion, there was also a constant noise of a clanking sound, like light metal hitting the hard earth. There was also a sweet odour in the air.

"Hey, are you alright? Stop the caravan, she's waking up."

There was an abrupt halt that had Esra's body feel like it jerked forward.

Esra woke up to the sound of a soft voice calling her; she opened her eyes and was met with three faces, all girls that were older than her. There was one with dark skin and black hair with a small red marking on her forehead, another with short and choppy blonde hair and then the girl that was closest to her age-using that vaguely since she was a teen, she had red hair unlike anything Esra had ever seen before, pale skin and bright red eyes. She regarded Esra with a rather empty expression.

Sitting up, the girl wiped her eyes. "Where am I?" she looked around and saw that she was in some kind of small space made of wood; there was a sweet smell was coming from the bags behind her, filled with fruit. On the outside, there was nothing but a dry, rocky mountain range near a desert.

"You're in our caravan." The dark haired girl said, smiling kindly. "Hello, my name's Sahsa and this is Leila and Morgiana."

Esra looked at the three, nodding her head. "I'm Esra Haruno."

"We found you out in the desert all alone last night." Leila explained, "We couldn't leave you there alone so we picked you up."

Esra gasped, she searched for any sign of purple, pink, blonde or blue, but there was none. "I was alone? Are you sure?"

Morgiana nodded, "Yes; we looked around for a while but there weren't any tracks or signs that you were with someone."

Looking down at her tiny hands clenched, Esra bit her lip hard. "I was with my mother, two of her friends and my brother. Are you sure you didn't see anyone?"

Esra's voice bordered on desperate now and it was obvious to the three girls as well.

"I'm sorry; but we really haven't seen anyone."

Thinking back to that moment in the dungeon; there had been a strange light that blinded Esra's vision; that was the last time she could remember seeing her mother and brother.

'Oh no.'

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

When Badr woke up he felt the burning gaze of the sun on his face and winced. He sat up, craning his stiff neck to the side before looking around; seeing that he was in some tropical forest with a grove of trees failing to shield him from the sun. But after looking around for a few moments dread filled him as he realized that there was no sign of Sakura, Esra, Hinata or Ino.

"Mom, Esra! Aunt Ino! Aunt Hinata!" Badr stood up and looked around, his eyes resembled that of a panicking animal in a new environment.

" _Calm yourself my king."_

Badr paused, looking around. And then his eyes rested on the locket as he felt a light thrumming coming from it. "What the…?"

" _It's me, Vapula." The djinn said._

"What's going on?" Badr asked out loud "Do you know what happened to everyone else?"

" _I do not know-it seems that something has interfered with the transfer magic at the last minute and that's what has separated all of you. I'm afraid I do not know where they are."_

Badr wasn't listening to his djinn anymore, he looked all around him, spinning a few times before jumping up in to the nearest tree, running up the log until he reached the top to look around and get a better view of the area. Still, he saw no sign of his family; but what he did see was the sight of something in the distance.

Near the sea, hundreds of islands lining but all coloured with man-made structures like a city. As far as his eyes could see.

"Wow," the purple haired boy stared up in shock. "What is that place?"

" _Shall we find out my king?"_

 **That's all for now everyone. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. Like I said in the beginning I won't be able to update for a while because of the work I have to get done but rest assured that I'll be back soon. And in the meantime….**

 **DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW!**


	8. Present: What binds us-chains or bonds?

**Hey everyone, it's been a while since the last update but I had my hands full with university. However I finally got a moments peace after two weeks of nothing but work so I hope that you all enjoy this chapter.**

* * *

Often, when people, do something wrong, misstep, make a mistake that leads to repercussions; or they lose something important to them, all those situations end up having one thing in common. The sickening feeling that settles in them shortly after the occurrence. A stomach churning, throat tightening, heart stopping, palm sweating, pulse racing feeling. Although it did not last too long. Usually there was a solution to every problem and cause of that feeling.

However, it turned out that when you are knowingly transferred into another world with no idea of how to get back and you lose your children within said world; that feeling does not go away and lingers over you like a storm hovering above, threatening to give way to bad weather but leaves you anxious for that moment.

That was exactly what happened to Ino, Hinata and Sakura when they woke up after exiting the dungeon and found that they just lost forty percent of their group and that just happened to be the youngest ones amongst them. Except that feeling didn't gradually dissipate at all. Instead it remained, sitting there inside of them filled in place of the presence that had been lost.

"Sakura enough; we need to take a break!" Ino screamed, halting. Her worn, bare feet buried in the hot sand. Since they were in Sakura's home when they were transferred without warning; neither of them were wearing shoes and if Sakura hadn't suggested everyone taking a small sack of treasure before they left the dungeon; they would have literally had nothing but the clothes on their backs. Of course, gold was useless if there wasn't any points to exchange them in the middle of the desert. For the past few days, the three kunoichi's had been travelling through the desert, spending hours under the boiling hot sun, ignoring their fatigue to keep pushing through.

"Ino, we have to keep going! We need to find Badr and Esra!" Sakura said, looking back to the two girls who were kneeling forward, covered in sweat, panting.

"We know Sakura," Hinata stepped forward, panting softly. "But you need to stay calm."

"I can't!" Sakura exclaimed throwing her hands out, "You have no idea! No idea what kind of dangers there are in this world! Things that I do not want them to encounter!"

"Like what Sakura?" Ino asked, frowning. "We get that you've been in this world before, so tell us."

Sakura was dreadfully silent; she looked around. "Let's at least keep going until we find an oasis or something. We can rest there before continuing."

Ino ran up to the pinkette, placing her hand on her shoulder. "Sakura, you have to tell us. Don't forget you're not the only one stuck in this world now; we're all in this together. Whether you like it or not."

Sakura closed her eyes; Hinata and Ino could see that she was debating with herself what she was going to say and they knew to wait until she signalled for the okay. Then when she opened her eyes, both women prepared for further explanation on Sakura's time in this world.

"Obviously this world's a lot different than ours-aside from the absence of chakra; there are different types of people, cultures and practices…." Sakura swallowed heavily. "One of those practices include slavery….

* * *

Four weeks.

That was how much time had passed since Esra had woken up in this strange world; that was how long she had gone without seeing her mother or brother. It was officially the longest time she had been away from either of them and considering when it started, her tenth birthday was officially listed as her worst. She was greatly distressed at first, at times, there was even the daunting thought that she may never see her family again-not the best cargo to add to your train of thought when it was already close to maximum capacity just with the baggage of being sent to a different world.

The caravan that had found Esra was a group of merchants. They were heading in the direction towards a country known as Balbadd. The red-headed girl, Morgiana wasn't actually a merchant but someone who had been travelling with them in order to reach Ballbadd; which Esra found out a few days after getting to know everyone. Esra didn't want to believe that she was really separated from everyone and was frantically asking the girls in the caravan over and over if they had seen her mother and brother; even showing them the picture but she was told over and over until it finally sunk in that she was found completely alone.

'What happened to them?' Esra would always wonder, since the first night without them. She wasn't concluding that anything terrible had happened to everyone, but that didn't change that she was still separated from them without knowing how.

With nowhere else to go, the merchants warmly welcomed Esra to join them and it turned out to be quite the advantage. Esra found that Morgiana had incredible strength and the two spent most of their days working together to unload, restock and deliver the merchandise to Sasha and Leila who worked the stands. Esra preferred this to sitting around all day; in order to avoid the dark blanket of anxiety that would wrap around her in her free moments.

From what she knew right now; she was trapped in another world and that was on top of losing her family and she did not know where to begin to search for them. Because of this longing; Esra did not confide in any of her companions the truth of her origins, nor the extremity of her situation. Who would believe her anyway?

* * *

"What happened here?" asked Sahsa.

Esra glanced around from behind the sack of fruit, which should've weighed more than her. This definitely didn't look like it was going to be a pleasant stop.

The next town that they arrived in was barren, there were people lying out in the street with solemn expressions on their faces as they leaned against worn out grey brick houses. A rather lifeless atmosphere surrounded the place. Leila called on a man who was clearly heading out of the area; carrying large sacks on his shoulder and under his arm. He stopped when Leila called him.

"Excuse me, what's going on here?"

"A group of bandits invaded our city because of the internal strife in Balbadd." Explained the man. "I suggest you guys get out of here as quickly as you can too."

As the man left, Sahsa turned to her older friend, a nervous sweat dripped down her face. "Leila…"

The blonde smiled, even though there had been a glimmer of concern in her eyes. "There's no need to fear a couple of thieves. Let's do business as usual!"

The upbeat tone of the girl vanished after she turned without looking properly where she was going and ended up knocking into someone.

"Ouch! Watch where you're going!" Leila glared up at the man she had bumped into. He had long unruly white hair, dark eyes and appeared to be in his early thirties; but Esra and Morgiana weren't paying much attention to the features of the man, so much as the chain wrapped around his hands, leading to a long line of interconnected rusty, metal collars-all attached to disoriented looking people, with shackling on their ankles and wrists; their skin visibly bruised from them.

"My, what a vulgar little girl." He said before tugging roughly on the chains, forcing the people to move.

Esra and Morgiana stood there, dreadfully shocked. This was the first time Esra had witnessed such a scene and it made her stomach churn painfully. The young girl was always praised for her remarkable composure but those who praised often forgot that she was; at the end of everything-still a child and it was beyond the point of unsettling for her to see something like this.

Esra looked on with her pupils dilated far and the corners of her eyes pulled back from horror. "'W-What is….

"A slave merchant." Leila said, her voice calm but there was a sharpness of distaste.

"Those poor people." Whispered Sahsa, watching as the man walked away. "Why do we have to have a system like slavery in this world?"

The single question had stuck with Esra throughout the day while she worked. She wasn't able to remove her thoughts from the sight of those men and women being forced to pad along after one another in those rusted chains and follow along as if they were animals on leashes. Slavery wasn't a term Esra was familiar with, but she understood the concept well enough; at least according to the few books she had read about it.

Morgiana had been quiet after the sight of the slaver trader as well and although the girl was usually quiet, Esra had an odd sense that this was more than her regular demeanour. Something much darker than that.

* * *

When the day came to an end, the sun already far set and everyone was readying themselves for bed, Esra went to find Morgiana who had left the group early after delivering the final stocks. She was found sitting on top of a high roof of the building they were staying in; with no conventional entrance and had to be climbed. That had no effect on Esra though.

"I thought you'd be here."

Esra came up next to Morgiana, starring up at the full moon. The red-headed girl was looking at her ankles, visibly dark blue marks following around it. Morgiana placed her hands over them. "I hate these marks….I wish they'd hurry up and disappear."

"What are those?" asked Esra.

"From the shackles that were placed on me, for many years since before I was your age." Morgiana clarified for the young girl; doing a quick glanced at Esra before turning her head back up to the star-filled, full-moon sky.

"I was a slave."

Esra's heart started to rapidly beat and her insides twisted. "Like those people we saw?"

"Yes."

Morgiana told Esra that she was a Fanalis; they were a powerful type of people who were known for their red-hair, wild nature and beast-like strength that exceeded human expectation. For that reason, they were hunted down and turned into slaves. Of course this practice did not only apply to them.

Morgiana also told Esra of how she had gotten her freedom not too long ago as well. Going into a dungeon with her former master, she had met two incredible boys who had granted her the greatest treasure of all, her freedom. Now she was going to Balbadd in order to board one of the ships there in order to get back to her homeland.

"Their names were Alibaba and Aladdin," Morgiana told Esra softly, "They were the ones to finally free me from the grasp that the shackles, not only on my body but my mind as well. That's why; I'm going to go to Balbadd and then make my way to the Dark Continent; my homeland. Because that's what I told them I would do."

Esra blinked back the tears that wanted to fall from her eyes. Moving closer to Morgiana, she placed both of her hands over one of the girl's ankles, ignoring her questioning look. Chakra began to flow through her hands, barely grazing Morgiana's skin as she watched the dark purple-blue blemish slowly disappear before moving onto the next.

Morgiana watched with wide eyes, amazed. She ran her fingers along her ankles as soon as Esra pulled away.

"That's amazing…"

Esra smiled, "My mother…she taught me healing techniques. As well as how to defend myself."

Looking up at the starry sky, the girl spoke with an obvious longing in her voice that Morgiana was able to sympathise with.

"The truth is; I've also been taken from my home by force and now I've lost my brother and mother in this world." Esra mumbled softly, she touched the locket around her neck. "And I have absolutely no idea how I'm going to find them…."

Morgiana looked down, "I don't remember my parent's faces. I don't think I would now either. I hope you'll find yours somehow."

"I hope so too."

* * *

The following morning, Morgiana and Esra were all ready to leave for their next destination; Balbadd; they had one more day in this town before they were meant to take off. Sahsa and Leila had gone to take care of some last minute selling to clear out the rest of their stock. Morgiana was called in by one of the merchants they were travelling with, an elderly and kind man, who had welcomed them aboard the caravan.

Morgiana gasped, her eyes widened in disbelief. "We're not going to Balbadd?"

The man nodded, looking down at the map in front of his crossed legs, "A band of thieves have set up camp on the only road leading to Balbadd. We've decided to take a different path." He stood up, "Morgiana, you were aiming to go to Balbadd in order to return home right?"

Morgiana nodded, "Yes, the ships that will take me home leave only from Balbadd."

"Are there no other routes you can take? Where is your homeland?"

From Morgiana's silence, Esra guessed that she did not tell a lot of people her story about being a slave or where she had come from.

"That band of thieves is rumoured to be extremely vicious and cruel. They assaulted my friend's caravan and many of his comrades lost their lives. We cannot take that path, I'm sorry."

Morgiana lifted up her head, her tone and calm and collected as her expression as she spoke words that had the caravan merchant and Esra's eyes widen. "What if? If someone were to defeat those bandits, then that path would be open once again right?"

"Yes, but it would take a miracle."

* * *

Leaving the room, Esra and Morgiana walked along in silence until Esra was certain that they were alone. She looked up at Morgiana, speaking in a hushed tone.

"So; are we going to do it tonight?"

"What?" Morgiana asked, looking at Esra, baffled.

"I'm thinking, it'll be better to attack at night when they'll least expect it. It's the best time to strike-at least that's what I've been taught." Esra explained as if she was giving a casual topic of conversation and not discussing ambush details. "When the enemy sleeps and drops their guard,-it's actually some kind of poem mom taught my brother and I about the right time to strike. And also I don't think we should let the other's know about this or they might try to stop us."

Morgiana gasped, looking back at the young girl, "Esra, it's too dangerous for you to come along-

"I'm not going to let you go by yourself." Esra stated, crossing her arms stubbornly. Her eyes hardened with determination and resolve that Morgiana felt compelled to lean towards. "I've been trained since I was four. My mom's trained me to defend myself and help those in need. She's made me strong enough to handle myself. And I'm going to use that strength, to help you."

It was clear that debate and protest wasn't going to stop Esra from coming after Morgiana even if she did attempt to go alone.

"Alright."

* * *

Later that night, after everyone had finally fallen asleep; the girls easily removed themselves from their tarps and went through the window of the room to the outside. Following the direction of the road leading to Balbadd, they arrived quickly due to their speed.

A fortress built into the large rocks, on the side of the roads, there were visible openings carved into them that acted as windows and it was possible to see the light burning in it. That's what the two girls saw after easily leaping across the piles of rocky hill and coming to the top and overlooking the fortress where the thieves had set up their camp.

There were dozens of men outside, sitting around fires, drinking, eating handsomely and laughing in disregard for any dangers, completely unaware of the two girls watching them.

'So these are the thieves.' Esra thought observing the men closely. Looking for any signs of those that would pose extreme danger, attempting to rate them. Sakura told them that there would come a time when they developed an instinct to look at a group of enemies and immediately identify those that would pose a threat to you-but she wasn't anywhere near there.

Looking at one another, the girls gave a quick nod to each other. Esra closed her eyes and took a breath; calming her heart as her adrenaline rush came on. She had never gone up against an opponent in any unofficial setting like this before. She knew that if she wavered, the cost would be great for her.

" _You have to remember in a fight, to stay calm, do not succumb to doubt in battle and strike with certainty." Sakura said, pointedly._

Esra's ears filled with the sound of fluttering and when she opened her eyes, it stopped.

'I can do this.'

They then jumped down together, landing swiftly on the ground, at first they went unnoticed until Morgiana addressed the thieves without a sign of any fear.

"Excuse me thieves."

Esra swallowed hard as the eyes fell on them. The men's attention turned to the girls when they realized their presence.

Morgiana spoke again in her plain tone. "We need you to leave this area."

"What did you say missy?" one of the men asked.

"Please leave this area." Morgiana repeated. "No one is able to come through this road because of your presence. If you will not go, we will remove you by force."

The bandits laughed at the sight of the two young girls; of course it would be comical to assume that they were capable of delivering on their threats.

One of the men, a bulking man with a huge gut came up to Morgiana, craning his shoulder and smiling smugly. "Big words for such a small girl, why don't you try evacuating me?"

With that same stoic expression, Morgiana landed a punch, straight in the thief's gut, watching as he fell over, coughing up blood before he fell unconscious.

"Wow," Esra admired before turning back to the rest of the thieves who were now not only focused but on guard again. Drawing their swords; they surrounded the two girls.

"Be careful." Morgiana told Era.

"I will," The girl reassured her friend, getting ready to fight.

Esra took a stance, lowering her centre of gravity, shifting her feet apart, pulling one of her arms back, both of her fists clenched tight and chakra already flowing through it. One of the bandits moved towards her, swinging their sword and instantly, Esra had countered, knocking the man back with a powerful punch that had him landing into one of the other thieves.

That first strike was all Esra needed to continue on fighting.

The other bandits started coming at them now, attacking from all sides but Morgiana and Esra were able to hold off against them with little effort; mostly keeping to the air to have the upper hand in high ground, striking quickly and strongly in order to ensure that they would not recover for another assault. The noise had attracted those who were inside the fortress as well. Unknown to the girls, they were being watched….

The slave merchant Fatima looked out to see what was happening; he had just arrived at this hide out after gathering a new group of slaves. Joining with a group of bandits in order to capture travellers; the thieves would raid the belongings while he took the people as commodity. He was amazed though when he caught sight of Morgiana and Esra fighting; rather than infuriated, because he saw from her red hair and the way she fought that Morgiana was a Fanalis and that was like finding a diamond among coal.

Esra felt a rush unlike anything she had ever experienced before; she sparred with her brother, mother and students from the academy, but never to this extent where the danger gave her such a euphoric feeling. As if the knowledge of knowing your life was at risk and yet you were able to guard it, to lure people who had this great sense of superiority and then crush it was exhilarating.

Esra didn't even realize she was grinning as she took down another opponent, jumping back she ducked to avoid a sword being swung at her, catching the man's wrist and landing several kicks from his stomach, to his chest and face before moving onto her next.

Morgiana was fighting against a man who was five times her height and ten times her weight, his belly bulging as he wielded a huge axe, but Morgiana kicked it out of his hands and then lashed out onto him in a feral manner, delivering several punches to his face and then kicking the side of his, a smile spread across her face as she too felt the rush of the battle.

It didn't take long before all of the men were lying on the ground, scattered ungracefully unconscious. Esra and Morgiana walked up to one of the men left conscious, he covered before the small girls, curling up.

"Where's your leader?" asked Morgiana.

It was too late for them to hear it or feel its presence, their sense clouded from the battle as a large black crow swooped down towards the girls, its talons scraping along both of their arms as they crossed over and lined together, failing to move out of the way before they felt their skin being grazed open.

The crow flew up towards the moon and then back down, landing on a padded covered arm.

"Impressive. You were both able to doge that attack."

Looking back, they saw that the crow was not the only new presence they failed to sense, Esra and Morgiana saw the same man that Leila had knocked into. The slave merchant, Fatima.

"I'm so glad to meet you, little Fanalis girl." Fatima said, regarding Morgiana, his eyes then fell on Esra. Taking in the features; her short purple hair and her eyes….golden. Reminding him distinctly of a boy he once knew during his time as a slave. A boy whom he still felt a great hatred for.

"You're not a Fanalis, but with your strength and that face; I'm certain you'll fetch for an excellent price." Fatima said, sneering somewhat down at the young girl.

"Are you the leader of this band of thieves?" asked Morgiana, still clutching her arm.

"Oh no! Don't lump me in with the likes of them." Fatima said. "I'm a slave trader."

A wave of nausea and dizziness washed over Esra and Morgiana, they swayed in different directions attempting to hold their foot and it was then that they realized the talons from that crow were poisonous. Esra could feel her muscles pulling stiff beneath her skin, restricting her movement. She couldn't even lift her hands to try and heal her wound or extract the poison.

"What's going….?"

"It seems the poison has finally taken effect. My desert crow's talons are deadly; you were lucky to avoid it like you had."

As the weight of their own bodies pulled them down, Morgiana and Esra lost consciousness, barely able to register what had happened before slipping into darkness.

"Sweet dreams."

..

..

..

..

..

..

 _Esra hated the dark, more than she feared it, for in the darkness there was nothing but uncertainty as you were unable to look beyond what was in front of you-nothing and that was all that surrounded her now. She felt like she couldn't breathe, despite not knowing how infinitely large the space around her might be. Then she heard it; the soft sobbing and hiccupping of what seemed to be a familiar voice. Then a shimmering light, as she reached towards it, the light expanded and gave way to a picture she knew well enough._

 _A memory._

" _Esra baby listen to me, you have to be strong okay. No matter what happens." Sakura soothed her daughter as she continued to sob. She had wanted to stop training fifteen minutes ago but her mom continued to make her fight against her. She had been thrown with dark fire balls and had gotten burned several times from it; after Sakura stopped to heal her, she said that she wanted Esra to do another run but the girl wanted to stop._

 _Badr wasn't there because he had already finished and Esra had to stay behind for extra lessons._

" _I don't want to do it again, please mommy. It hurts every time." Esra cried as her mother held her closely._

" _There will be times when you're going to have to push yourself beyond your limit, when that happens you have to be ready baby." Sakura said stroking her child's head._

" _But it hurts mommy."_

 _Sakura paused for a minute before speaking again, "Oh, my little baby angel. There are far worse things out there in the world and I want you to be ready for the hurt it's going to bring you. If I could keep you from that hurt, I would. But one day, I'm not going to be there to take care of you and I want you to be ready to take on the pain that the world will cause you; get back up and keep going. Because getting hurt, is the only way you're going to get stronger."_

 _The girl just continued to sob into her mother's chest, feeling Sakura continue to soothingly stroke her head._

" _Hurting others and being hurt, it's not something that we can avoid but remember this baby angel. No matter what happens; mommy will always love you and your brother. It's why I want you to get stronger-because if I lost the two of you. That would be the worst hurt of all."_

Upon awakening, Esra felt nothing but extreme discomfort, a combination from the cold that seeped through her clothes, the smell of heavy musk and the tightness around her ankles that prevented her from spreading her legs apart. Opening her eyes, Esra's line of vision was met with hard cobble stoned floors and stone walls, with rusted bars in front as well.

"Esra, you're awake."

Turning around, Esra saw Morgiana leaning against the wall with another young girl next to her; she looked even younger than Esra, she had short brown hair, dark eyes and was clothed in a tattered dress, shackles tight around her ankles.

"Morgiana?"

"Yes."

Esra looked down at Morgiana's feet and saw that she was also bound, but not by the same shackles and chains as the other girl. It was a thick wood, lined with metal on the inside where her feet went through, tightly bound with steel bolts and looking at her own feet, Esra realized that she was wearing the same constraints.

"What's going on?" Esra asked.

"We were poisoned, that slave trader must have brought us here." Morgiana said blankly.

Esra then turned to the young girl, "Hey."

"Hello." The girl replied softly, somewhat nervous.

"Were you also captured?" asked Esra.

She nodded, "My names Nadja. Me, my mommy and daddy were caught by the scary men, when we left Balbadd."

"Oh….." Esra breathed, attempting to keep her composure as best she could. She wanted to escape though and she was already bordering on desperate. Esra looked down at the shackles, narrowing her eyes.

"Those shackles are strong." Morgiana said. "I can't break them."

"What's going to happen to us?" asked Nadja, glancing back and forth between the older girls.

Esra's face become disconcerted as she did not know how to put into words for this girl what their fate might be but Morgiana responded instantly, without blinking; her demeanour calm as ever. "We'll be turned into slaves. The ones who caught us are slave traders, therefore if we stay here we'll be turned into slaves."

"What are slaves?" asked Nadja.

"Morgiana!" Esra attempted to stop the girl but the Fanalis paid no heed.

"First, we'll be taken to a slave caution. There, we'll be forced to strip naked and forced to watch people bid on us." Morgiana spoke without a hint of fear, consideration or care. For herself or the two girls that were listening to her. "Then, we'll be sold off to some unknown land. And there we'll be forced to work for the rest of our lives, in chains. If we try to run, we will be whipped. The punishments are dreadful and horrendous-

"MORGIANA STOP IT" Esra screamed before coming up to her friend with what little momentum she was allowed to have in those shackles and smacked the older girl across her face, barely able to capture the shocked expression on the Fanalis girl before she moved back to Nadja who started crying. Esra went to cradle the girl in her arms, although her stature wasn't that much bigger than Nadja's.

"It's okay…it's okay." Esra cooed. Imitating the way Sakura use to coddle her and Badr whenever they would come to her. No matter the time of day or what the situation; whenever Sakura would see either of the twins distraught, if their eyes so much as glistened, she would drop everything and rush over to them and hold them like this.

"Mommy, daddy….I'm scared." She sobbed while Esra stroked the girls head-yet another thing Sakura did for her and Badr.

"Morgiana," Esra spoke in a serious voice, conflicting with her young form. "You shouldn't give up so easily…Don't….

" _Don't give into your fears Esra," Sakura smiled kindly at her._

"Give into your fears." Esra stated, "Especially when it's not only your life on the line. I'm going to get out of this place and I am going to find my mom, no matter what. So don't go deciding my fate for me!"

Morgiana's face visibly softened; she shuffled towards the two girls, putting her hand on Nadja's head, causing her to look up.

"Don't-don't worry, you won't become a slave. I'll find a way to escape from here." She then looked over at Esra, "I'm sorry Esra. I promise I'll get us out of here; so you can find your family."

Esra could feel her throat tightening painfully and her lip threatening to quicker, yet she spoke with a hard voice. "Thank you."

* * *

Later on into the day, after healing up the wounds caused by the crow's talons, Esra, Morgiana and Nadja slept together on the floor lightly covered with scratchy hay and a thin blanket, huddled together as they rested. When Morgiana woke up, she saw Esra starring longingly at her open locket; Morgiana remembered Esra showing it to Leila and Sahsa but Morgiana hadn't seen it herself back then. There was a picture of a boy who looked exactly like her, except for their eyes and a women with short pink hair.

"Is that them?" Morgiana asked; watching as Esra wiped her eyes from the tears that were going to run.

"Yes, that's my brother Badr and my mother; her names Sakura." Esra said softly.

"What are they like?"

"My brother's a no good troublemaker and flirt, who always charms himself out of tough situations; but he is smart I guess. My mom's really strong, she trained me and my brother. And has always taken care of us on her own."

"What about your father?"

Esra's eyes seemed to harden, "I don't know."

"What do you mean?"

"I never met him."

Nothing more needed to be said and nothing else was said.

Heavy and ragged breathing broke the girls from their tense silence, looking down at Najda who was still sleeping, they saw her face was pale, her bangs were sticking to her forehead from sweat and her cheeks were flushed red.

Esra put her hand on the girl's forehead, coming into contact with heated skin. "She's burning up!"

"Help, someone please help!" Morgiana called through the bars.

* * *

Their cries for help was heeded but not in the way the girls were expecting, after Fatima came in to take a look at Nadja, he said that she was no longer any good. The three girls were taken out of their cell and outside. Nadja was tied up around her arms and hung from a pulley in a large pit created for holding the animals and beasts that were to be sold. She was daggling above while several hyena's, unlike the ones Esra has seen in her world gathered around, starring up at her. Morgiana and Esra had shackles placed on their wrists and four men came along with Fatima to hold the girls down in case they became violent.

"What are you doing!?" screamed Esra.

Morgiana and Esra watched in horror as Nadja was hung above a circle of hungry hyenas, yipping and snapping their jaws up at her.

"I don't believe in providing treatment for low-grade slaves." Fatima stated, keeping the rope "It would be a waste to pay for their medication. That's why I feed them to the hyenas. The timing is perfect, make sure you pay close attention…..This is a slave."

Fatima let go of the rope a little, dangling the young girl closer to the animals. She screamed in fear.

Morgiana and Esra started to bang their shackles against the ground but they wouldn't break.

"No." Esra whimpered, feelings tears gather in the corner of her eyes as hopelessness washed over her. In that instant it was clear just how quickly ones confidence and strength could be taken away.

" _Not enough, do it again like this!" Sakura struck a boulder, watching as it crumbled to pebbles. Ever since she discovered that Esra had exceptional chakra control and wanted to learn how to use it, Sakura decided to teach her how to enhance her strength but it still wasn't easy because there had to be needle thin precision when it came to chakra control in order to draw on this kind strength. "Focus your chakra and don't let it go even after you punch, that will inflict more damage and you won't pull back too early."_

 _Esra was crying, her cheeks red, looking at her knuckles, bruised and scraped. "But mom…."_

" _I know it hurts baby," Sakura said taking her daughters hands in her own to heal them for what was the fifth time. "But you can't be afraid of a little pain if it will save your life, remember I told you. I won't always be there to protect you; one day you're going to have to find your own resolve to fight and not just mimic mine."_

" _But I want to be just like you mommy."_

 _Sakura smiled, kissing her daughters forehead. "You should always want to be just like you. You have that liberty to find out for yourself; who you are and no one can take that away from you. Not me or anyone else. Understand?"_

 _.._

 _.._

 _.._

 _.._

 _.._

 _.._

 _.._

 _.._

Esra's eyes snapped open, she saw the golden birds fluttering around the girl leading up to the sky. Then she saw someone talking to Morgiana, a large man with an iron mask and a sword.

" _Is that the extent of your power? You can't break those shackles? You should already be free from your chains Morgiana. You are no longer the slave you were in the past. You've been freed. Accept your own fear of the past and those fears can be broken with the blade of courage."_

Morgiana looked at Esra, just as Fatima cut the rope causing Nadja to fall to the ground, in the middle of the circle of hyenas.

"JUMP." Morgiana screamed.

Swinging her legs up, Esra jumped into the air with Morgiana, they landed on the ground bellow in the pit, hard, breaking their shackles, the wood splintering around them and the metal creaking and finally bending to a breaking point. Morgiana then drew in a breath before opening her mouth, letting out a high pitched noise that sent the Hyena's scurrying away.

Esra stretched out her arms to break the chains on them, they snapped like the weakest vines of a tree. Then she went to untie Nadja. The rope fell forgotten on the ground, Esra hugged Nadja to her chest.

"You're okay now."

Morgiana smiled, looking down at the girl. "Let's leave this place."

Fatima glared at the pair before smirking as an idea came to mind when it finally dawned on him where those girls were standing, "Release everything we have to auction!"

Another door was lifted in the pit and this time there were four vicious looking tigers with long sabres; larger than any tiger Esra had seen in her world, they towered the regular sized animal by five. Fatima warned the girls happily that the tigers had poisonous fangs, one scrape was all that they needed.

"What are we going to do…?" Nadja whimpered fearfully clutching onto their clothes; they smiled back at the girl.

"Don't worry," Morgiana said "We'll handle this."

"We'll both take two." Esra told Morgiana.

"Right."

Then before the tigers could leap to take their prey-their so called 'prey' charged forward.

The two girls avoided the tiger's fangs, Morgiana used her powerful legs while Esra drew in her chakra to her fists to deliver a powerful punch to the tigers head, keeping clear of their mouths. She pumped chakra to her feet to give her the extra momentum, using her strength in a way she has never used it before. Crushing the bones of the animals and swiftly ending their lives. Unaffected by the sight of blood or the crunching of what she familiarized herself as bones. The only thing going through Esra's mind then was her determination to make it through this obstacle, this challenge that wanted to hurt her; show that she was strong enough to survive it and make it back to the one who taught her what strength was.

When all four tiger's were lying lifeless on the ground, Esra and Morgiana picked up Nadja before turning their attention back to Fatima.

Fatima fell over when the two girls jumped all the way from where he was standing, their eyes firmly placed on him. His subordinates had run away after the girl's horrific display of strength and animalistic manner of fighting.

"I made a mistake capturing you two. I understand if you want to kill me."

Morgiana held out her hand "Give me to the keys to the chains and cages, we're going to free all of the slaves here."

Fatima sneered at them, "What do you feel bad for them!? Even though you're not better than slaves yourself!"

Esra lurched forward, punching the ground right beside Fatima's head before she looked back at him, watching as he trembled.

"What gives you the right to assume my position like that?" Esra asked coldly "Thinking that it's alright to do this, to sell people and treat them this way…Why are you okay with that?"

She looked at Fatima, meeting his eyes and it was then that the features twisted and a remarkable image of the past replaced her.

 _As Fatima prepared for departure to his new home and who evidently would be his new master, he heard a voice that had become a painful irritation to him and it belonged to the boy he resented greatly. The one who had taken his position as Madaura's favourite slave. Who had nearly ruined him; had he not gotten the chance to redeem himself, he might not have Madaura's love anymore!_

' _Sinbad…'_

" _Wait Fatima!" Sinbad called, just as Fatima stepped into the carriage. "Don't you think it's strange? Letting her treat you this way? Being sold off like that…Why are you okay with that?"_

Fatima's eyes widened with disbelief. 'It can't be…!'

"You girl….who are you?"

Esra narrowed her eyes further, with a dangerous glint in her eyes. "Esra Haruno."

* * *

Fatima gave the girls the keys to the other captive's chains; they found their holding cell after breaking through several doors. Morgiana tossed them the bag of keys and soon everyone was moving to unlock their shackles and going to help the others do the same. Two of the people in the overcrowded cell, noticed Esra who was carrying Nadja and they ran towards her with extended arms.

"Nadja!"

With tears in the corner of her eyes, Nadja called out to the two adults, "Mommy! Daddy!"

Morgiana told them that she was going to need some medicine. Though it didn't seem to deter the reunion. Esra wiped her eyes at the sight as she felt relief as well as a longing deepen inside of her. She wanted that to be her soon with her own family.

Although her attention was diverted quickly.

"Miss aren't you that lady from before?" Someone asked Morgiana

Morgiana looked and found a familiar, a young boy looking their way. Esra saw a boy, more or less her age, with long blue hair, with bangs that covered his forehead but there was a ruby stone resting in the middle of it; the rest of his hair was tied back in a braid. He had large blue eyes that complimented a soft face and his small stature. He was wearing a turban on his head, a small blue open vest with bandages wrapped around his chest and long puffy white pants.

He smiled, recognising Morgiana who in turn gave him a shocked expression. "It is you!"

"You…" Morgiana gasped, starring at the young boy in recognition. "How did you end up here?"

"A huge rock fell on our caravan. I lost consciousness and when I opened my eyes again, here I was." Aladdin held up his chained arms. "In chains like everyone else."

"Who is this?" Esra asked Morgiana. "Do you know him?"

"Yes, I told you about him before. One of the two boys in the dungeon."

"Oh!" Esra recalled the memory when Morgiana mentioned them.

The boy answered himself, smiling at the young girl. "Hi, I'm Aladdin, what's your name?"

"I'm Esra. Esra Haruno." The purple haired girl smiled, holding out her hand. "Nice to meet you."

Then Esra noticed that Aladdin stilled hadn't been unchained and she expected him to shake her hand.

"Oh sorry!" Esra flustered.

The purple haired girl moved, wrapping her fingers under the shackles before snapping them off Aladdin. "There you go."

"Wow, you're really strong!"

Esra giggled a little uneasily; it was difficult sometimes to let people see her strength-especially when it came to making friends. Not too many kids were eager to play with a girl who could accidently break them in a hug-not that it would ever happen or has happened.

She was taken out of her thoughts when Aladdin held out his hand towards her. "It's nice to meet you too!"

Esra took Aladdin's hand in her own, she heard the odd fluttering again, it was soft but it was there. "Thank you."

Aladdin's grin widened, "You know, you're really cute!"

"H-Huh?"

It wasn't every day that the young Haruno had gotten compliments and to be frank, while she was exceptionally well equated to handle anything life had to throw at her academically and physically; socially and emotionally she was many levels below average.

With her cheeks flushing a visible red on her fare skin, and her eyes widened like saucers with her mouth gaping as wide as it could, Esra turned away swiftly covering her face.

Aladdin and Morgiana looked at her in confusion but they didn't have time to question her on things because someone shouted loudly on the outside of the cells, one of the thieves no doubt or slave traders. Coming to the cells in a last attempt to keep their captives from escaping and reclaiming their freedom.

"DON'T LET THEM GET AWAY."

Esra's expression hardened again as she looked over at the gates, "Great, guess we've gotta fight our way out of this."

One of the men in the cell looked over at Aladdin, holding up a golden flute. "Aladdin, is this yours?"

Aladdin grinned, going over to the man to take the flute, he then looked back to Esra. "Don't worry, you won't have to fight this time. Ugo can take care of it."

..

..

..

..

..

..

Esra had seen and discovered plenty of surprising things in this world, but a huge blue giant merging from a flute-without a head; after it was played, was on a whole different level of surprising. This giant was a djinn named Ugo, according to Aladdin. On appearance, he helped clear out the remaining thieves from the hideout.

Around that same time, Sahsa, Leila and the other merchants from the caravan were riding towards the hideout in order to rescue Esra and Morgiana once their absence was noticed. They had hired some mercenaries as well to deal with the bandits but it looked like that wasn't going to be necessary since they were all running passed them in fear.

* * *

"Are you two out of your minds?" Leila scolded Morgiana and Esra, a scowl painted across her face. "We were worried sick!"

"Sorry…." The two girls muttered, holding their heads down while they apologized to them. They explained the full story to Leila and Sahsa about wanting to defeat the group of thieves and clear the area so that they could continue on the road to Balbadd.

Aladdin then ran up to Sahsa, hugging her tightly, his head nuzzling her ample chest. "It's been so long, huh Miss Sahsa!"

Leila laughed when she looked back at Aladdin. They had recognized Ugo having seen him before and they figured that the summoned-Aladdin, wouldn't be too far behind.

"Same old Aladdin I see." Leila sighed.

"So you know him too?" asked Morgiana.

Leila nodded "Yeah,"

"I met them in a village I was in before I met Alibaba." Aladdin told the Fanalis before he went back to nuzzling Sahsa's chest. Although she didn't seem to mind, Leila roughly tugged on Aladdin's braid in attempt to pry him away from her friend.

'He may be young but's he's a typical pervert.' Esra thought, shaking her head and to think that a few minutes ago she was so shaken from him calling her cute. In a way he reminded her of Badr.

Sahsa said she was surprised to hear that Morgiana already knew Aladdin, but then the old merchant said something, "It's no coincidence, you all meeting again. Travels will reunite old friends from near and far."

Although Esra didn't seem to be giving it much thought; she was yet to discovery how true that saying was.

"This is great, now you can get to Balbadd." The old merchant said.

Aladdin looked at Morgiana, "You're going to Balbadd too?"

"This guy said that the person he was looking for wasn't in Quishan, so he's going to Balbadd to look for him." Chided another man.

"Is that person Alibaba?" Morgiana asked and Aladdin nodded.

He nodded, before holding out his hand. "Let's travel together."

"I have no objections to that." Morgiana smiled, then looked back to Esra. "You're coming with right?"

Esra grinned. "Of course."

* * *

That night there was a large feast and celebration, laughter filled the air. Esra, Morgiana and Aladdin watched with smiles on their faces. Although they weren't able to fully participate in the celebration on account of the amount of drinking involved but nonetheless, they were content at having some leisure time. Esra, Aladdin and Morgiana took the time to talk and get to know each other a little better, going from what was typical small talk and building quickly to the larger matters. Aladdin was going to Balbadd to find his friend, Alibaba, Morgiana was going to Balbadd to get on a ship and go to the Dark Continent and Esra-

"So you're going to look for your mom, her friends and your brother huh?" asked Aladdin.

Esra nodded, tucking her knees to her chest, starring out towards the festivities. "I haven't seen them in over a month, but I feel like….after today I'll definitely find them."

"I'm sure you will," Morgiana said strongly.

"You know, everything in this world is actually connected." Aladdin stated, looking ahead at nothing in particular, with the same smile on his face "That means that even if we get separated from each other, we'll never be alone. You are always connected in some way to the people who are dear to you. Forever."

Something about that made Esra's heart skip with delight, she looked to the starry sky. Picturing her mother and brother's smiling faces, hands held out towards her.

'I'm going to find you. I promise.'

 **I worked on this chapter throughout the day because I really wanted to update-especially after seeing yet another amazing fanart commission on Deviantart.**

 **KitsMits**

 **RedlovingJade**

 **FemFantasy**

 **Shineejeya**

 **Luka1Sakura**

 **MizuAiNami**

 **I want to give a special shout out for your support and your art for my story. If anyone hasn't seen their art or wants to simply see it again; just go to Katsura369 on Deviantart and you'll be able to find them in my favourite. Also if anyone would like to make any fanarts (doesn't matter the style) please don't hesitate and please tell me because I would love to see them.**

 **I hope to have the next chapter updated in a few days, maybe the end of the week. In the meantime-**

 **DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW!**


	9. The Past: The girl in the mask

**Hey everyone, here's the next chapter, I wanted this one up as soon as possible so that I could work on the next one. Now, I know that most of my readers would want to know what's happening in the present so I'm going to say this to get it out of the way….**

 **It's important to know the details of the past in order to understand the happenings of the present and the future.**

 **So hope you read and enjoy**

* * *

"Here you are lady Tsunade," Sakura placed a pile of paperwork on top of the Hokage's desk.

"Thank you Sakura." Tsunade replied, her eyes fixed on the page in front of her, although it was obvious she wasn't reading. It didn't seem as if the women was quite there today; or rather she seemed to be so lost in thought about something else that she was transparent with distraction.

"Is everything alright?" Sakura asked.

Looking up, Tsunade held a firm look in her eyes. "Sakura; I need you to get your teammates, I have a mission for them."

* * *

A week passed and Kakashi was finally able to leave the hospital; after he was discharged, Naruto immediately wanted to start on his training. Although the copy-ninja's mind was still on the pink haired Kunoichi's recent development. He had somewhat come to terms with the situation but he still swayed every time he was reminded about it. Naruto's training tended to take his mind off the matter though. Yamato was also assisting to keep Naruto's tailed-beast under control.

In the middle of a wide open field, near a water fall, Sakura saw an uncountable number of Naruto's clones training. From what she understood; he had to use his wide-type chakra to split a leaf and the task wasn't as easy as it sounded.

While she was still in the forest section, undetected by the other males, Sakura came across Sai sitting against the trunk, with a sketch pad in his lap, drawing a portrait of Naruto.

"That's pretty good." Sakura admired, sitting down next to Sai.

"Is it?" Sai asked seriously, shifting the sketchpad around for further inspection.

Sakura giggled, holding her chin.

"Did I say something funny?"

"Not really," Sakura replied shaking her head. "So, other than sketching comrades, what have you been doing?"

Sai held that same impassive expression. Sakura had asked him not to hide behind false faces and he had read that the best way to improve a friendship was with honesty and fulfilling small requests to help make the next person a bit more comfortable with your presence. He would've thought his smile would have the opposite effect on her, but she said she preferred it if he would reframe from using fake expressions.

"Well, I've been reading this book about self-sacrifice." Sai said, reaching into his bag strapped to his waist he took out the book he was telling her about. "It says that you could get closer to someone if you put your own wellbeing or safety on the line. Which will allow a seed of gratitude to grow and therefore strengthen bonds."

Sakura raised an eyebrow, Sai had been doing a lot of reading like this as of late. It was commendable, she was able to see the effort that the raven haired boy was making. It was obvious to her that he meant well; even though he was still very awkward when it came to matters like these.

"I see. Well I can tell you from personal experience that it is a possibility." Sakura said. "But you need to remember that sincerity is what really counts. As ninja, we have to protect others and often put ourselves in front of our clients and whatever threatens them."

Sai nodded, "We do that because it's our duty."

"Exactly, that's the difference." Sakura said, holding up her finger. "Sacrificing for duty and sacrifice for the sake of those you care about, are not always one in the same. The intention behind your actions are what makes that difference. In fact, it would determine how much you are really willing to risk."

Speaking about the concept of self-sacrifice; Sakura's slightly grimaced. She had knowingly done things for Sinbad; that she was not proud of, even to this day. Where she disregarded her own ethics and morals, all for the man she loved. It had been one of her biggest flaws. That had led to the destruction of their relationship. She did not see what this might do to him, as well as herself. She was certain that Sinbad, being the man he was-would always find a way to recover from anything. He wouldn't give up.

She on the other hand, surrendered. After the incident in Parthevia, on that island. Sakura felt as though she was on the verge of insanity, before Yunan arrived and gave her the option-for what felt like a clean slate, ironically enough. And she was able to return back home.

She told herself that this was what was best, that Sinbad needed to erase any evidence of tragedy from his mind if he wanted to be a good king. Sakura found herself to be a part of that mix, even if she wasn't in the recipe.

Holding his chin, with a small frown on his face, Sai appeared deep in thought. "I think I understand. That's very helpful. So I must appear as though I am doing it because I want to and not because I have to."

Chuckling, Sakura swiped her hand across her face. The way he took her advice was as if he was being taught through a textbook. She didn't mind it. Ja'far and Masrur had tough shells as well, built from the difficulties of their past. If she could help them, she could help Sai. Though she had told him it was better to experiences these kinds of things for himself, rather than rely on a book. He still didn't seem to understand why though, pointing out that he was actually learning a lot about people's general reactions like this.

"Sai, I know that you've only begun to attempt to read people's emotions." Sakura put her hand on his shoulder. "But, you shouldn't stress yourself out about these kinds of things. Emotions are something we all have and it doesn't matter if you can't define or place all of them. When it comes to people you care about and who care about you, aesthetics doesn't matter." She then smiled. "After all, real friends don't worry about those kinds of things. We like each other for who we are."

Sai felt his heart rate pick up when he Sakura smiled at him. He didn't understand why. He always saw her smiling with other people when she spoke to them.

He listened to her, while trapped in his own thoughts. She went on to say that Naruto was one of the best kinds of people to have as a friend, because he had an ability to see something in people that even they didn't know was there. That he could befriend anyone and even bring his enemies to tears. Sai noted how she always spoke so fondly of Naruto; he wondered if there was any hidden meaning behind it. As he had read in a book once that girls who talked a lot about a particular person actually had a 'crush' on that person. Though his theory couldn't be accurate, seeing as Sakura was pregnant with someone else's child.

They ended their conversation with one promise from Sakura, "If you experience a new emotion that you can't place then feel free to tell me. I'll do my best to help you place it and I won't tell anyone else about it. Promise." She held out her pinky for him, at first he wasn't sure what to do but then Sakura took his opposing hand to hers and hooked their pinkies together.

"There, now it's a promise and you can't break it."

* * *

Naruto, Sai and Yamato were called to perform a B-ranked assignment and left on the day Sakura told them to report to Tsunade. They were supposed to meet with some people from the Fire Temple about grave robbers. Sakura's thoughts weren't really concerned about her comrades' mission because she had to go to her first ultra sound while they were away.

* * *

Sakura sat nervously on the hospital bed, her fingers clutching the sheets as she felt the cold substance of the gel hitting her skin. Then nervousness might also be impatience for having fasted twelve hours for her ultra sound-not the best feeling when you were pregnant especially. As the name implied, an ultra sound used high frequency sound waves to capture live images from the inside of the body and sometimes undigested food could block sound waves.

Tsunade spread it across her belly, the smallest bump could be felt. It was only the first trimester so Sakura knew that she wouldn't be able to tell the baby's sex, but Tsunade insisted on having the ultra sound as soon as possible and this was as soon as possible.

"It's kinda strange," Sakura said offhandedly.

"What is?" Tsunade asked.

"I think my weight gain's a little much." There had been a short physical before the ultra sound and Sakura was surprised with the scales readings and not in a good way.

"You've been having cravings right?"

"Kinda, but I usually end up losing whatever I ate soon after." Sakura chuckled dryly; "I feel like this baby might be bipolar, wanting an entire box strawberries one minute and then suddenly making me puke it up the next. Then making me want a whole chocolate and suddenly, changing my taste buds to make it like I'm eating sand."

Tsunade placed the scanner on the pinkette's stomach and watched the screen. There was mostly darkness surrounded the screen. Tsunade continued to move the scanner around, narrowing her eyes as the patches of grey came into focus. She kept on until she saw something appear on the screen that caught her attention.

"I think I can explain your weight and why your cravings are so various….

Sakura's eye's widened, she hadn't seen a lot of these in her time at the hospital when she was giving ultra sound, but she knew what those were…

"Those are…" Tsunade trailed, looking at the two specks on the screen. "Two….Sakura, you're having twins!"

Sakura's eyes began to fill with tears, she smiled as she looked at the screen. Seeing the two fetuses.

"I'm having twins…"

The pinkette was so overcome with joy, she didn't even remember the ironic conversation she had with Pipirika about twins. But then again, things were a lot different back then and so was she.

* * *

While Sakura was on her way from the hospital, she caught sight of three of her former classmates and friends. Hinata, Kiba and Shino; the members of Team 8. They were calling her over.

"Hey Sakura!" Kiba called, waving as she walked over to them. Kiba had a wild appearance, with spikey dark brown hair and narrow, sharp black eyes. Next to him was his companion and evidently best friend, a large white dog, Akamaru.

"Good morning Sakura." Hinata greeted softly. Hinata was a kind hearted girl, but descended from a powerful clan in Konoha, the Hyuga. She had waist long, straight navy blue hair and pale white eyes with a tinge of lavender. The ninja attire she often wore was exceptionally modest, but it was still possible to depict her shapely figure.

On the other side, there was Shino. He was one of the quietest in the group, next to Hinata. He also had spikey brown hair, but that was hidden behind a hood, it also concealed most of his face. He constantly wore goggles to hide his eyes as well.

"How are you?" he asked.

"I'm fine." Sakura grinned, she gave a short pet on Akamaru's head as he barked excitedly at her.

"Are you heading anywhere?" asked Kiba.

"I was just going to go home and rest." Sakura replied, she started digging through the pockets of her dress. Since she wasn't allowed to go on missions, she decided to stick to whatever casual clothing she would be able to wear before she started really showing. "Check this out."

Sakura held out the ultra-sound picture. She told them it was her first ultra-sound today and she found out she was having twins.

"TWINS!?" Team 8 member's exclaimed.

Then a new voice interjected, "Twins?"

Sakura, Hinata, Kiba and Shino turned around and saw Kakashi coming down the street over to them.

"Kakashi-sensei." Sakura greeted.

"Did I hear that right? You're having twins?"

Sakura couldn't help but give a broad smile in turn. "That's right-you're not going to faint again are you Kakashi-sensei?"

"You fainted, really?" Kiba asked raising an eyebrow at the jonin.

Rubbing the back of his head bashfully, Kakashi laughed. "She caught me by surprise."

"Yeah, I'll say." Sakura muttered, leaning towards Hinata. "He and Captain Yamato completely passed out, one of the new nurses thought they had a heart attack."

Hinata held her hand over her mouth to stop a giggle from erupting-of course, she hadn't been that much better. She had gotten quite flustered at the news herself.

"See here, two. They're basically the size of kumquats right now." Sakura pointed on the black and white picture of the ultra sound. "They're at the beginning of their fetal period."

"I can't believe you're having twins." Kiba said, taking the photo to have a closer look.

"Yeah, the chances are actually supposed to be slim to none because of my age."

Women who usually conceived twins or multiple babies were already in their thirties because of the ways your ovaries would work. Women in their thirties and forties were more likely to release more than one egg and even then, twins aren't actually common in the grater scheme of life.

Kiba then stated offhandedly, "Boy, the guy must've really stuck the landing-OW!"

Before he could go any further, Sakura swiftly knocked Kiba at the back of his head. Already red-faced without needing to hear the rest of his sentence. Hinata was also blushing and Shino commented on how vulgar Kiba was being to have said that in the first place.

"I think I'm getting a bit light headed again." Kakashi swayed and Sakura laughed.

* * *

"Eh, seriously you're having twins!?" Ino exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air. Sakura put her finger to her lips; signing for Ino to be more discrete in her excitement, especially considering they were in a restaurant and she didn't want to get kicked out like the last one.

"Yup, see here….one-two." Sakura pointed to the picture, in between the girl's half empty plates.

"I guess that means you're going to get a double dose of that pregnancy glow." Ino said, smiling as she viewed the picture closer.

"Yeah and double my size-how is that going to look with the way I am now?" Sakura pointed, pouting slightly. She placed both hands over her stomach, feeling the slightest bump beginning to rise.

"Well, considering-I think it's going to look pretty funny." Ino replied honestly, causing Sakura to snicker before tossing a piece of lettuce at the blonde.

"So, how as your mission?" Sakura asked.

"Not much of a mission to be honest." Ino said, looking down. She clenched her hands together. "We got to a village that was completely destroyed; the houses burned, people dead and streaked in blood was the symbol of the Hidden Rain."

Sakura frowned, starring down into her cup. "That's…."

There had been a couple of encounters with the Hidden Rain-most hostile ones. So hearing news like this was a bit disconcerting.

Ino shook her head, "Azuma-sensei seemed really worried. He's going to report it to Lady Tsunade."

Sakura stared up at the ceiling with an absent minded face, "The Hidden Rain…"

* * *

Sakura ran thought Hokage Tower; making her way to Tsunade's office. Apparently, Naruto, Yamato and Sai had returned a little while ago. Sakura was eager to see them after this time and to know how their mission went. However, Sakura was not expecting see someone else joining them. A young man, about their age, with straight grey hair reaching his shoulders, tanned skin and hazel eyes-she also wasn't expecting for said boy to be on the floor, straight across from the Hokage's office, in a pile of rubble, a hole in the wall behind him and a broken door on the side.

"SAY THAT AGAIN."

Sakura jumped at the sound of her master's familiar and undoubtedly ticked voice.

Tsunade then appeared, leaping in front of the boy with a furious expression. She drew her arm back, preparing to strike. "Whose an old bag!?"

'Yikes.' Sakura closed her eyes; it looked like she decided to step in at the wrong time.

"I SAID A Bodhisattva!" the boy exclaimed, holding up his hand in defense. Tsunade's punch went across from the boy's face to the side of the wall right next to his head.

Tsunade pulled back, shaking the dust and….rubble off her hand, smiling down at the boy. "Well, aren't you a cute little monk?" She then grabbed him at the back of his top and started pulling him back inside the office. "You pass. Welcome to Konoha."

Naruto, who was standing just outside of the office, noticed Sakura's appearance and called her over. Sakura carefully started stepping forward.

"Hey Sakura's how's it going?"

"Hey Naruto….How was your mission?"

* * *

When Team Kakashi went on their mission to investigate the grave robbers that were raiding the tombs of the Fire Temple. They ended up encountering them. They also encountered a hot-tempered monk from the temple who could use wind-chakra based techniques like Naruto. His name was Sora and due to a misunderstanding; he and Naruto had a falling out on their first meeting. Mistaking each other for the enemy. Things just spiraled downhill from there.

"So, they got away with the coffins and the corpses inside?" Sakura asked. Sai was telling her how their mission had gone. Almost after arriving at the Fire Temple, they heard that the graves were being robbed and they were forced to literally chase after the coffins-there was no sign of the enemy at first but after being lured into a trap, they encountered them. Evidently, that didn't go over well.

"Yes, and because I am going to be out of commission. Captain Yamato has requested Sora to join Team Kakashi temporarily." Sai said, watching as Sakura worked on healing his arm.

One of the enemies used an earthy style technique to create a huge maze that everyone was lost in. Sai had encountered a giant spider in that maze, set as a trap most likely and had ended up breaking his arm while fighting it; not to mention being poisoned as well.

"The poison's spread quite a bit but I have an antidote." Sakura said, looking down at the wound cut along Sai's arm. After seeing the condition he was in, Sakura took Sai to the hospital, ignoring Naruto's plea's not to leave him alone with Sora. She didn't want to waste any time in getting him healed.

Taking a syringe, Sakura filled it with a yellowish liquid, the appropriate antidote for the poison. "Captain Yamato wasn't wrong; you're definitely going to be in hospital for a bit."

"I'm sure that if you were there, my injuries would have been a little less severe." Sai said offhandedly; he noticed the change in Sakura's face as she saddened. Her eyes diverting down.

"I'm sorry"

Holding up a splint, Sakura started to quietly wrap up Sai's arm again. When she was finished, Sakura tensed as she felt a hand fall on top of her head, rubbing it roughly back and forth.

"Sai; what are you doing?" Sakura asked, keeping her eyes up on his hand.

"I read that, comforting a friend works best with physical contact. Such as putting your hand on their shoulder or stroking their head; it also works when your friend is frightened."

Sakura chuckled dryly, wondering what kind of book he was reading now. "Is that so?"

"Well; I tried to comfort Naruto when he was scared by wrapping my arm around his shoulders; but there was a….misunderstanding."

An uncontrolled snort left Sakura as she thought about how this could be misinterpreted by Naruto when it was coming from Sai and she couldn't hold back her laughter then. Tears gathered in the corners of her eyes when she thought about how exactly he would react.

Sai stared at the pinkette; he didn't understand what she was laughing about but he assumed he had done something right with the comfort if he made her laugh.

'I suppose, I'll need to find another book.'

* * *

Sora and Naruto certainly did not seem to be getting along well; that was what Sakura thought when she came to sit in while Yamato attempted to work on the teams new formations. Everyone had met up in the middle of the forest but Naruto wanted to resume with his chakra manipulation training-however Kakashi was sent out on a mission while Naruto, Yamato and Sai were already dispatched.

"Hey wait a minute." Sora said, turning to Sakura. "You're a part of this team too right?"

Sakura nodded. "Yeah, I am."

"Then how come you weren't with your team for that mission?" Sora asked, bluntly demanding.

Naruto frowned, "Hey don't just-

"I'm on maternity leave." Sakura answered as bluntly as Sora questioned. She was wearing a large red shirt with dark sweat pants. Right now she was only a little past two months and there was the slightest expansion. Of course, one couldn't tell with what Sakura was wearing.

"Wait what!?" Sora pointed at her, gaping. "You're-you're-you're-

"Pregnant." Sakura announced slowly.

"How old are you?" Sora asked, starring at her with wide eyes.

"Hey, don't just go asking her-

"Your age." Sakura deadpanned. She looked over to Naruto, smiling then as she took out the ultra sound picture from her pocket. She showed it to him.

"See those two little dots? I'm having twins!"

"Twins?" Naruto gasped; now just as flabbergasted as Sora.

"You're having twins?" Yamato blinked rapidly as Sakura nodded in confirmation and the poor man was barely able to stutter out a congratulations.

'This is kinda fun.'

" _You should say that after you've given birth, my king." Orias chided._

* * *

Two days and Sakura was still worried about Naruto and Sora's training together; although that afternoon when she was walking through the village, on her way back to the hospital to work and check on Sai. She passed Ichiraku's and heard, Naruto, Sora and Azuma-who was taking over the boys training as he could also use wind-type chakra. He was actually tricked into training them by Yamato when he appeared right before they were about to work on their formations.

She could hear the boys laughing inside while Azuma grumbled on, questioning why he suddenly had to watch them and oversee their training but both Naruto and Sora were too busy joyfully slurping up their meals.

Sakura smiled as she walked away, not wanting to disturb them. 'It seems like everything is alright.'

Or so she thought.

* * *

The sun set on Konoha and when Sakura was on her way back from the hospital, she found herself taking a detour through the busy streets, moving further away from the bustling of noises and people. She didn't have to be there for any reason; it was in the opposite direction of her home, but she was walking along as if she had somewhere to be.

She was following a trail.

" _Are you certain about this, my king?" Beleth asked worriedly. "You may run into a foe."_

'I can't just ignore this,' Sakura argued back.

What seemed to be a carry on from the other world; Sakura's 'sense' had become sharper. A similar concept to being led by the rukh of the other world, but she couldn't see any rukh in her world; but she could 'feel' something. It wasn't the same as sensing chakra though. It was more like presence becoming vivid, as you would feel when you have your back to the door and someone enters. Only much stronger. Sakura had been experiencing this for a while.

And what she was sensing now was malicious.

Sakura followed the feint trail, but the further she went, the stronger it became. Until finally, she felt that it was so strong, she needed to stop before she came in to face the person herself. Around the corner, Sakura could hear two voices alone. One she knew was Sora's and the other, a stranger.

"What are you scheming!?" Sora asked.

A middle aged man, with long white hair wearing a purple kimono and carrying a staff. He also had a scar running down the side of his face.

"So closed minded. You're telling me Konoha's on your side?" he asked Sora. "I told you, that you've got an incredible power that the heavens bestowed upon you didn't I? What a waste. I could use that power of yours for the greater good!"

'What is he talking about?' Sakura wondered. It was obvious that he knew Sora and that Sora knew him; but he also clearly wasn't a friend of Konoha.

"Like I'm gonna listen to you!"

Disappearing for an instant and then reappearing beside Sora, the stranger punched the boy hard enough in his stomach to make him cough blood, warning him not to make a scene.

"I came out here because there was something I forgot to tell you. The one who killed your dad was the traitor and former member of the twelve ninja guardians, Asuma Sarutobi. Of course whether you believe me or not is up to you."

With that the stranger vanished along with his dark aura and trail, but not before throwing Sora something.

'What the hell?' Sakura frowned.

" _I do not know what I just saw my king, but might I suggest we take a detour?" said Sitri._

'No, I'm finding out what the hell is going on.'

Despite her djinns raving protests in her head, Sakura came out of the shadows and the shield of the building wall, facing Sora's back.

"Well now, that was interesting."

The sound of Sakura's curt voice had Sora turning around quickly; on his one had, Sakura caught sight of a triple-bladed claw on his hand and made a note to step with caution.

"You!" Sora glared at the pinkette. "What did you-

"Every word." Sakura stated, putting a hand on her hip. "Although I'm certain I wasn't supposed to."

Sora continued to stand firm, although he made no real movement.

"Who was that exactly?"

"None of your business!" Sora snapped.

Sakura shrugged, "Perhaps, but it might be someone else's….say Asuma-sensei."

Sora flinched.

"Or perhaps…Lady Tsunade-

In that moment, Sora pushed off against the sole of his foot and charged towards Sakura. His clawed blade coated in chakra, colored blue.

'Wind type…' Sakura quickly reached for her hair pin on her top, extending her arm out. A small whirl wind covered the accessory before extending outwards and then vanishing to reveal a large spear. The two weapons clashed as Sakura held off Sora's blades.

'What the!' Sora was barely about to register what had happened before it felt like a force was pushing against him and he was skidding across the ground. He quickly sat up and turned around to Sakura again.

"I wouldn't do that again," Sakura warned, throwing her arm out to the side, displaying her weapon at a greater angle. "It will get much worse if you do."

Sora glared at Sakura, before his eyes fell one her weapon. He felt a force of wind push him back from that weapon; he was certain of it and yet something felt off. "What the hell is that?"

"Listen here," Sakura twirled her spear around before panting it upwards in the ground, keeping a firm grip "I don't know what exactly that conversation was about, but I am going to find out. Until then, I don't plan on fighting you-or telling anyone about what I saw."

"Why not?" Sora asked.

"Because I'd like to have my facts straight before I do something irreversible." Sakura turned around, withdrawing Sitri's metal vessel to its original state. She glanced behind her shoulder. "And if I were you; I'd do the same thing. Because if you act on haste….you're going to regret it."

* * *

When Sakura got home, she took a shower, had dinner and then went straight to her room. Feeling completely exhausted from today. It seemed like, her djinns weren't wrong about her condition weakening her and effecting her use of her magoi. Sakura sat on her bed, starring at her hand.

"Damn; I barely drew you out Sitri."

" _Maybe, but fluctuations like this should be expected."_

"Still," Sakura fell on her back, spreading out her arms along the cold sheets. "I've been wondering about something."

" _And what would that be?" asked Stolas_

"Magoi and chakra are two different sources of energy right? So I was wondering about how they would fair in a battle against each other..."

" _We actually don't know, my king." Beleth confessed. "We cannot compare the two."_

" _Not without actual testing." Sitri added._

" _We do know that magoi is produced by the rukh in people, but only a certain number can wield it. It was surprising enough that you could." Gaap stated._

" _True, you have a system in you that rotates your chakra, but once you use one of us that system seems to completely shut down." Orias said. "It isn't possible to attempt-or rather, you shouldn't attempt to use both energies simultaneously."_

Sakura sighed, "Makes sense I guess."

Having her melee with Sora still fresh in her mind; Sakura went to see Tsunade about the situation. She didn't inform her master about what she had heard yesterday. All she wanted was to inform herself a little more.

* * *

"The twelve Guardian ninja; why are you asking about them?" Tsunade looked at her student, puzzled.

"Well they were brought up during Naruto's last mission so I wanted to know."

"It's kind of in the past though but very well." Tsunade said, taking Sakura's reason as truth. It wasn't like she would have anything to gain by learning this information. Twelve Guardian Ninja have for a long time protected the daimyo. About two years after the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox's Attack, half of the original members began to believe that only the daimyo should lead the Land of Fire. To that end they planned a coup d'état against the Hokage, and planned to later conquer the rest of the countries. The different ideals split the group in two, which led to a fight between them and there were few survivors after.

"One of the surviving members was Asuma."

Sakura already knew that, but then he was also called a traitor by that stranger and that he killed Sora's father-

There was a sharp knock on the door and a muffle voice could be heard behind it.

"Hokage-sama, we have apprehended Danzo and are ready for interrogation."

'Danzo-as in….?' Sakura frowned, turning back from the door to her master. Tsunade stood up from her seat and walked around the table.

Sakura knew who Danzo was as he played a big part in Konoha's history (although mostly hidden in the shadows). He was included in Yunan's vision of her world and it was terrifying to think that someone like this existed right under everyone's noses. He was also the found of the organization that Sai was from-Root. She knew this because right before she left for her mission to the bridge, she had seen Danzo and he confirmed for himself that Sai was a part of his organization.

"Very well." As she came passed Sakura, Tsunade put her hand on the pinkettes shoulder. "You should go get some rest. There's nothing for you to worry about."

'I'm not so sure about that.'

And she was right.

* * *

Things seemed to become more chaotic throughout that day; after Sakura had left the Hokage's office to get that rest she felt she needed, she went back. Because it wasn't long before she heard that Naruto had ended up in the hospital and that Sora was missing. The boy then fled after an attempted attack on Asuma, then Naruto got in the middle of things and that's all Sakura was informed of. It also happened outside of the interrogation facility. When Sakura heard that it was Asuma that Sora went to attack; she couldn't stop her mind from going back to that conversation she heard between Sora and that man.

'Things are really getting messed up.' Sakura thought as she glanced over to the hospital bed where Naruto was sleeping soundly now. 'And I have a feeling, this is just the beginning.'

The following morning, Sakura was leaning across the hospital bed, waiting patiently for Naruto to awaken. He was wrapped in bandages around his chest up to his neck since he was struck with throwing stars in the back.

Sakura woke with a start when Naruto nearly jumped out of the bed, a light sweat covering his forehead. He looked like he had just woken up from a horrid nightmare.

"Naruto." Sakura yawned, rubbing her eyes as she moved to sit up straight.

"Sakura; what are you-

"I've been waiting for you to wake up." she answered quickly.

Looking around, Naruto wasn't able to see much because there were curtains separating the other hospital beds since he was in a public ward. Although, he could tell by the greyish tinge in the room; that it wasn't entirely light out just yet.

"It's morning?"

Sakura nodded, "You've been unconscious for a while."

"What happened?"

"What do you remember?"

Naruto replayed the memory for Sakura; he had heard a disturbance and when he went to look what was happening; he found Sora attacking Asuma, then someone in an anbu mask tried to take out Sora with throwing stars and Naruto jumped in front of him, taking the hit instead.

"Sora….he said something to Asuma." Naruto frowned, "Before he vanished-something about getting revenge for his father?"

Sakura frowned, 'Just like I thought.'

* * *

Everyone was looking for Sora throughout the day, with no success. As Sakura and Naruto walked down the empty streets, it was so late that the two were barely able to catch the last ray of sunlight before it set because Sakura refused to let Naruto leave the hospital immediately and join in the search.

"I'm sure he's still here." Naruto told her.

Sakura sighed, rubbing the back of her head. "Well if he is, he's really good at hiding."

As they walked further on, Naruto noticed that Sakura wasn't taking the turn off to her home.

"Sakura, aren't you going to go home?"

Sakura shook her head, "You said you think he's still here; so I'm going to help you look for him."

"But, what about-aren't you tired or-

"Don't worry about me." Sakura reassured him, rubbing her stomach over her dress. From everything that had happened these past few days, Sakura didn't want to leave Naruto to search for Sora on his own in case he was with that man again.

As the sky darkened, clouds started to gather in the sky, growing in preparation for a storm but not one of rain. Sakura and Naruto paused, as they both felt it. This raging feeling and…murderous intent. Leaping onto the roof of a building with a view of the Hokage Tower; Naruto turned to Sakura.

"Do you feel that?"

"Yeah." Sakura nodded, a serious expression on her face.

"Let's go." Naruto said, setting his sights on the building before taking off, followed shortly by Sakura.

* * *

As Tsunade placed down her brush, having finished her paper work for the day; she leaned back in the comfortable chair to let out a deep breath. For only a moment, her stress was relieved. A shocking sense of danger shot through her, coming from behind but before she could react; the door to her office was carelessly-more like desperately thrown open and Naruto and Sakura came rushing in towards her.

"Lady Tsunade!"

"Granny Tsunade!"

The two leapt over the desk, pushing the women off her chair and to the ground. The window behind them shattered as a huge throwing star was flung through, scattering shards of glass on the floor before it landed straight in the wall on the other side. A thick wire attached to it.

"Are you alright?" Naruto asked Tsunade.

"Yeah." Tsunade said, taking her stare off of the weapons leash. Naruto stood up, but he had to duck as soon as he did because Sora came sliding in from the cabal attached to the weapon. He was only using one hand to hold onto the line, but it wasn't a normal human hand. This hand was red and appeared thick, with claws.

"SORA" Naruto yelled.

The monk landed on the table, knocking over whatever was on it, a powerful gust of wind surrounded him. He glared at Tsunade, holding up his clawed hand, chakra flowing through it.

'What is this?' Sakura wondered, starring at Sora with wide eyes.

Leaping off the desk, Sora drew his hand to attack Tsunade but Naruto intervened, grabbing Sora's arm and halting his attack.

"Don't interfere!"

"Why are you after Granny?" Naruto asked him.

"Move Naruto!"

The noise hadn't gone unnoticed, as Shizune and two anbu came rushing into the room. When Sora noticed the new arrivals, he detached himself from Naruto's hold and left the same way he came. Out of the window. Naruto took off after him.

"Sora! Naruto!" Tsunade called.

Sakura stood up, "Naruto!"

She was about to jump after them, when Tsunade grabbed her at the back of her clothing and pulled her from the window. "No Sakura! Don't go chasing after them!"

"But, what about Naruto?"

"You have to trust that he'll be fine; you can't drag yourself into a battle now." Tsunade pointed out.

Knowing that her master wasn't going to let up on the matter when she was right here to monitor her, Sakura nodded. Although when she turned back to the broken window, facing away from Tsunade, she bit her lip, drawing blood.

'Dammit'

"Sakura you should-

Tsunade wasn't able to send her apprentice back home because she was interrupted by the terribly loud rumbling of lightning; striking through the clouds several times and then in an instant, the lights in Konoha began to go out, one at a time, and could be followed throughout until the entire village was engulfed in darkness.

What's going on now?" Sakura asked, squinting as she struggled to adjust to the sudden change of lighting.

Tsunade bit her bottom lip, she turned to Shizune. "Send word out; all team captains are to gather for a meeting immediately!"

"Yes!" Shizune and the anbu left. Tsunade started going towards the door.

"Sakura; you should go home, right now."

"With all due respect Lady Tsunade, I'm not going to do that. Not until this is cleared as a malfunction; if not, then you may be in need of medical assistance."

"Sakura-

"I'm pregnant not inept." Sakura stated firmly. "If I don't get permission, I'm going to have to act on my own Lady Tsunade."

Tsunade sighed, "Stand clear for instructions when I return."

Sakura stared at the empty office now, then glancing outside to the storm clouds and something was screaming inside of her; that everything happening, was connected. To that mission, that man she saw, to Asuma and to Sora.

* * *

Tsunade had gathered all of the Team captains and called on emergency procedures. She split the squads to protect the gates to the village and sent another to the power plant and find the cause for the loss of power. However, it didn't take very long for the captains to reach their post before an enemy attack was verified. At the main gate.

Sakura looked out of the window, watching as a huge cloud of dust rose into the air in the direction of the main gate. The enemy should've encountered their village's forces by now; but it looked like they were going right through it.

'At a time like this….' Sakura put her hand over her stomach…

Sakura nearly fell when the ground beneath her feet began shaking. Huge tremors could be felt all over the village. The cause of these tremors was the four humungous structures that were drawing up from the earth at each of the four gates to the village. They continued to rise out of nowhere and before an explanation couldn't be made, but when the entire parameter of the village was incased by a multi colored, transparent kind of fabrication. It was a barrier.

Tsunade ordered for everyone to be informed to head to the main gate and defend the village; she then told Shizune to get Shikamaru. When Shizune left, Tsunade looked at Sakura.

"Sakura prepare to head out!"

"Right!"

Before she could exit the doors, Tsunade spoke again.

"Listen to me Sakura; it's impossible to avoid a direct battle with the enemy but a medic's job is to save as many lives as possible. Do you understand? I do not want you fighting."

It wasn't as if she expected anything else.

"I understand." Sakura replied. Although, there was honestly no guarantee she was going to listen.

* * *

It didn't take long for Sakura to find out that there was complete chaos erupting literally all over the village. When she was near the main gate, she caught wind that the enemy had used a resurrection technique to bring corpses back from the dead! So everyone was basically battling zombies. There was also a disturbance near the power plant. The villages civilians were currently being evacuated as well to avoid getting caught in the cross fire.

"There, you should be alright now." Sakura said, as she moved away from the ninja, having wrapped his flesh wound on the arm. Wiping the sweat off her forehead, Sakura stood up to move to the next person; only to be drowned by another wave of fatigue and collapsing to her knees again.

Sakura grimaced, glancing down. 'Come on babies, not now.'

" _Are you okay, my king?" her djinn asked._

" _You may be expending too much of your energy." Stolas said._

'Not like it's intentional.' Sakura reminded them. One of the other medics helping out, realized Sakura was down and came over to her.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm fine."

Someone then shouted, "What's that over there!?"

Looking in the direction of the stares, Sakura followed it all the way on the other side of the village. There was a shocking blue-white light, coming down as lightning.

"The enemy corpses unit is multiplying! At this rate, we're going to be overrun!"

Sakura tensed, shaking as she clutched her fists tightly. Looking around at all of the injured that were just continuing to grow and it wasn't going to get any better if they continued to fight with the dead. There were also the enemy ninja who had summoned that technique.

" _What shall we do my king?" asked Beleth._

Sakura looked to one of the stores in the business district which was acting as the base for the healing unit since there weren't any enemies here for the time being. Starring through the darkness at the open stall, with multiple masks on display.

She smirked.

..

..

..

..

..

..

The number of wounded ninja continued to grow, despite the medical cores efforts, they were struggling to keep up. There had been this many injured in a matter of a few minutes. Through all of the chaos, it was only later one of the medics realized that they were missing someone.

"Where is Sakura Haruno?"

"Sakura; what are you doing?" Yamato asked, appearing beside the pinkette as she continued to run through the village. Her destination; the power plant.

"There's something happening at the power plant." She replied, continuing with her pace.

"That doesn't explain why you are running over there!" Yamato said. "You're in no condition to-

Sakura turned sharply to Yamato, giving him a hard glare. "Don't say it Captain Yamato or I swear, you're going to see why men dread pissing off pregnant women."

Although Yamato had a knack for scaring Naruto with his face; he had to flinch back at the frightening expression on Sakura's along with the deadly aura that came with it.

"Naruto's somewhere doing something to help, I'm sure of it." Sakura said strongly, turning her head to look straight ahead of her. "Everyone's fighting; I won't sit by and do nothing when I know I can help."

* * *

Eventually, Sakura and Yamato arrived at the power plant; entering through the metal gates. They saw Asuma picking himself up off the ground and a man standing a few feet away from them. He had brown hair and coal black eyes. He wore a black vest jacket un-zipped over a blue long sleeve shirt. He also wore the Twelve Guardian waist cloth around his waist; the same as Asuma's and a staff.

"Who's he?" asked Yamato.

"Kitane. A former Guardian ninja and the man inside one of the caskets you were chasing."

Sakura gasped. "You mean this guy was-

"Dead." Asuma confirmed. "The other three have been revived as well."

Looking behind Kitane; they could see four open and empty caskets in the back, nearly the power plants device.

"Where are the other three?" asked Yamato.

"They've headed, East, West and South of the village."

The first thing Sakura noted for that, was those strange structures that created the barrier was set up over there.

"Why split up?" asked Sakura.

"Those four were ultimate lightning-element users. They're planning to use Limelight. It's regarded as one of the greatest lightning techniques in history. Four people enclose and area from the four cardinal directions and reduce it to ash in an instant. Once they've reached their positions; the village will be destroyed."

"How do we stop them?" Sakura asked immediately.

"Don't let the other three reach their destinations!" Asuma said, stepping forward with his blades in each hand. "Go Yamato, Sakura; I'll take care of things here."

"But Sakura's-

"Right!" With that, the pinkette took off before Yamato was able to stop her and before Asuma could actually register what he just said to her.

'That girl!'

* * *

It wasn't hard to figure out where the corpses were each heading, with their cardinal points set and the fact that they emitted lightning from their bodies into the air as they walked; Sakura and Yamato were easily able to catch sight of them. Although there was another concern that Sakura had and it was the corpses growing at the main gate of the village. At this rate, there were going to be a lot of casualties.

Sakura looked over at the main entrance to Konoha making sure that her presence was yet to be known, digging into her pouch around her waist and pulling something out.

"Ready?"

" _Yes, my king!"_

One of the four ninja that invaded the village had used an earth style jutsu, summoning an unusual rise of earth, held with bones where the corpses from the villages they had destroyed returned. All the leaf ninja on the front lines were doing their best to hold them back, but that was all they could do for the time being since there didn't seem to be an end to the corpses, they were fairly easy to defeat though. A single hit was enough but what they lacked in strength they made up for in numbers-uncountable.

Ino sliced her kunai knife through another corpse, watching it vanish into blue dust. "What the neck is going on!?"

Choji, rolled over to Ino, using his expansion Jutsu to turn himself into a human ball that completely ran through the corpses.

"Is our back up here yet?"

"Quit whining you guys, we have to deal with this ourselves." Said Genma.

"Easier said than done!"

Lee attacked another corpse with a powerful kick, before standing straight to hold a defensive position. "They just keep on coming!"

As the corpses began their approach and lightning erupted in the clouds, shaking but despite the terror of the sky's there was something moving through it. Or rather-someone. The silhouette of a slim figure flash through the clouds when the lightning struck. Gathering water from the clouds, the eerie atmosphere began to clear a bit, a large amount of water formed above the shinobi and zombies but they were yet to notice.

"Alrasas!"

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

There was a downpour, but not one of a natural phenomenon that was rain. Rain didn't pour down at heavy speeds, rigid enough to cut through flesh and rock and pierce through the corpses bodies, turning them into dust that scattered along the winds.

Everyone turned their heads to look up to the sky and they all saw the same thing. Someone-a female; with long hair, pink tinged with silver and blue, fish-like fins were coming out beside her head. She had golden grown on top of her head. Most of her upper body exposed, aside from silver-like armor that covered her breast, spreading to her waist and a flowing skirt that split, exposing her legs that were also covered with scale-like armor. She held a spear in her hand. No one could identify the person though, because of the half-face, hand painted white cat mask.

"What in the…?" Ino looked to her teammate Choji, who appeared just as shocked as she was. "She's flying…"

"Who is that?"

Shikamaru stood beside Ino and Choji, looking up at the sky. "Who is that?"

"We have no idea." Kiba answered, "But she just wiped away that swarm of corpses."

"It doesn't look like it's over though!" someone pointed to the front of the earth were more corpses were beginning to rise from the dirty, summoned by the ninja.

"We've gotta finish this up and meet with the other group." Shikamaru said, he looked up to the mysterious figure in the air. "But this person….I'm assuming she's an ally, although….Hey you up there!"

The masked person, looked down to Shikamaru.

"Who are you? An ally or not?"

Shikamaru was hoping for a verbal response, instead the person swiped her spear across and a giant whip of water shot out, this forced most of the ninja to move back while the corpses caught in it were terminated. She didn't stop though; wherever there were leaf ninja positioned, she would produce a large water whip that had them jumping back.

"Hey!" Kiba yelled, jumping back with Akamaru. "What the hell!?"

"I guess she isn't a friend after all." Choji concluded before he, Ino and Shikamaru had to leap back as well. They were pushed so far back, they weren't even on the earth summoned.

"Wait." Shikamaru looked down at the strange earth they were all standing on and then back at the masked girl floating in the air. It then clicked; she wasn't trying to attack them; she was pushing them back!

"EVERYONE MOVE BACK NOW." Shikamaru ordered.

"Huh?"

"Why must we do that?" asked Lee, "I thought we had to keep the corpses from invading?"

"Just do it now!" Shikamaru exclaimed. "Everyone, get off of this earth!"

The remaining leaf did as Shikamaru ordered; although they were somewhat skeptical; everyone started to draw back.

Sakura watched from the sky as her comrades started moving out of the way. She didn't want to end up speaking directly to anyone, or her voice may be recognized. Taking on Gaap's djinn equip; she was able to fly through the sky's invisible, but in order for her to launch an attack using magic; she would have to be visible.

She still needed to go after the former 12 Guardian ninja before they reached their destination, or the entire village was going up in lightning.

'Better end this quick'

Finally, Shikamaru managed to get everyone off of the soil, there were no more corpses rising from it though; however Sakura planned to put a stop to them, by destroying the earth from which they came.

Holding her spear in the center of her body; Sakura started to concentrate her magoi; a magic circle with an eight pointed star began appearing above her. Using the storm clouds, Sakura once again started to gather water. The clouds that surrounded the entire village began to evaporate as the water was taken from it.

"EVERYONE MOVE BACK NOW." Shikamaru ordered; feeling that they were a little too close with the size of that ever growing water above their heads.

"MA'AN DAWAMA TAMIN"

The water began twisting, forming a head, with large blank eyes, its head resembled a dragon, only it had a large expansion around its head that was similar to a fin. It went straight towards the summoned earth, crashing into it with full force. The effect was past phenomenal. Washing away the summoned earth, along with the corpses and when everyone looked again, the jutsu had been destroyed. The water ran along the village streets in a calmer flow. Slowly diminishing and keeping the village from being caught up in the extreme magic.

Everyone was starring wide eyes and mouths gaping as they took in the sight before them.

"The corpses…" trailed Ino.

"They're all…" Kiba gasped.

"Gone." Lee finished.

Choji and Shikamaru looked up in search of their masked savior but she was no longer anywhere to be seen.

"Who the hell was that?"

* * *

Sakura crashed near the forest; after using her extreme magic to clear up the corpses for her friends she flew towards the lightning that was still moving through the village in hopes of catching up and defeating him before he reached his point and activated Limelight. However, the effects of the extreme magic was taking its toll and she was forced to land and remove her djinn equip.

Reaching into her back pack, Sakura took out a food pill and shoved it into her mouth, chewing fast and swallowing, this would at least help her regain something strength so that she could continue on foot towards her target, he didn't seem too far off from where she was.

'Let's go.'

" _My king, this is too much!" Beleth exclaimed, "You're still not recovered from the effects of the extreme magic and in your condition-_

'Enough.' Sakura interjected. 'How can I change my world, if this is all I am capable of?'

* * *

The reanimated ninja that Sakura was following, was heading all the way out into the forest. That was when a new presence entered, one of the enemy she presumed given that the women who appeared started attacking Sakura. Throwing her kunai at the pinkette from the distance in the trees while they continued to rush through the forest. Sakura did not want to lose sight of them.

As Sakura was about to jump into an open space, the earth started to shake and solid rock emerged from the ground, encasing Sakura in complete darkness.

"What Is this…?"

From the outside, Sakura could hear a muffle voice. "Oh no! I was so looking forward to seeing that boy again. I hate little girls!"

Sakura frowned, she remembered Sai telling her about one of the bandits who had created a huge maze of earth and the poisonous spider he had encountered inside of it.

Smirking, Sakura held out her hand. "Beleth."

A large case of flames covered the entire space.

..

..

..

..

..

…

Fuen; one of the grave robbers from Naruto's previous mission watched in shock as the earth she had summoned to encase the pinkette started to erupt and crack before bursting. Fuen covered her face with her arms to shield herself from the sudden eruption; but that left her wide open for Sakura to charge forward and deliver a painful punch to her stomach, sending her flying through the forest.

As she lied on the ground, barely able to move a finger, Fuen looked up at the pinkette standing over her.

"Nice try. I take it you're one of the people behind this invasion." Sakura said, crossing her arms.

Fuen frowned, glaring at the girl. "Ho-How did you-

Pulling down the glove, "I heard about your ability from one of my teammates; unfortunately I do not want to cause any complications for my unborn children by poisoning myself. So…I'm going to do this quickly."

With that, Sakura raised her fist and brought it down hard onto Fuen's stomach, creating a giant cloud of dust, the earth around them breaking.

By defeating her opponent, Sakura found that the barrier around the village was deactivated. The four large structures surrounding the village vanished as well.

Sakura walked through the residue of earth, 'Now, there's just one more thing to do.'

* * *

Something was off.

When Sakura reached one of the former 12 Guardian ninja; who was already at the point, ready to activate Limelight, the earth literally swallowed the person whole and they vanished. All Sakura did was watch.

"What the heck?" Sakura panted softly. The exhaustion of running and using her metal vessels extreme magic was still affecting her, to add on to the strength her pregnancy was taking out of her. "I suppose that…the jutsu must have been deactivated."

" _By who though?" asked Sitri, "Wasn't the objective to destroy your village?"_

"Yeah…" Sakura frowned, "This doesn't make much sense."

" _Well I am somewhat relieved; now you do not have to fight anymore my king." Beleth said._

"No…" Sakura shook her head. "I still have to find Naruto and Sora."

In that moment, Sakura felt something in the air that ran through her entire body like a cold shock. Giving a strong trail to something….deadly. Like a beacon, a red light in the distance.

Sakura clenched her fists. "When does this end?"

* * *

Sakura couldn't believe what she was seeing. Sora, encased completely in red chakra, his eyes had become slits, his teeth sharp. The chakra was taking the cloak of a fox, but there were more than one tail growing from it. Despite the appearance, she knew that was Sora and beside him, was the man that she had seen talking with Sora that afternoon.

Sora had attempted to attack Naruto and Asuma in a rage, but Yamato appeared as well and shielded them with his wood jutsu.

Yamato gasped, looking at Sora. "That's…the Kyuubi's cloak!"

"As in the nine-tails?!" Sakura asked in disbelief. "How is that possible?"

Asuma glared at the man standing on the opposite side of the deforested area, "It's because of him!"

Naruto went in towards Sora, creating two shadow clones to back him up but then Sora opened his mouth and unleashed a blast that stopped Naruto. When it cleared, Naruto was still standing but Sora wasn't letting up in his attack. He raised the clawed hand, caked in the red chakra and Sakura went forward.

"Naruto!"

Yamato acted quickly, summoning wood from the earth to wrap around Sora and restrain him. Sakura didn't stop though until she was standing beside Naruto; who appeared completely gobstruck.

"Are you alright Naruto?"

"Yeah."

"That was a close call." Yamato said, holding his hands tightly together to keep his jutsu.

"How pathetic," the man with the scar said, walking towards Sora, only to be stopped when Asuma threw a kunai at him.

"Your opponent is me, Kazuma!"

'A name to the face.' Sakura thought, but she didn't have time to think for long because she had to return to the other matter which was Sora's raging Kyuubi's chakra.

Naruto looked at Yamato, he appeared to be straining with himself. "Hey Captain Yamato. Can't you suppress the Kyuubi's chakra like you did mine?"

"I was able to suppress the Kyuubi's chakra in you because you were wearing the first necklace. But I can't do that with Sora."

Amazingly enough, Sora broke free from the wooden restraints, letting out a loud cry.

Sakura reached for Sitri, 'I have to-

" _Wait my king!" exclaimed Beleth. "You've already used extreme magic with one metal vessel; your body won't be able to handle another djinn equip in your state!"_

" _He's right." Sitri said. "You barely have any magoi left, you can't even force a weapon without risks. You've gone far enough!"_

Sakura bit her bottom lip, drawing blood. She wanted to fight, but she could also feel her bones creaking and body aching from the strain she had put it through. Her depletion of magoi was already showing in the visible vein lines along her neck and face. She was lucky she hadn't started bleeding from her mouth and eyes.

Sora then swept his hand towards Sakura, sending a wave of chakra towards her but Naruto leapt in front of her, blocking it. Sakura stepped to the side.

"Naruto,"

Naruto looked down, "I hate this power, so much. It only ends up hurting you and everyone around. That's why….I don't want you to use this power Sora!"

Sora snarled at Naruto, "Like you could know what I'm going through!"

"I know exactly what you're going through!" Naruto shouted back, his certainty in his tone had Sora tense. "The source of the Kyuubi's energy merged with you….is in me."

Sakura took in that bit of information, 'the Kyuubi's energy'; meaning it wasn't the original but just a source, a portion of the power and it still resulted in…that.

"What are you saying?" Sora asked, with wide eyes.

"I'm a jinchuuriki."

Sora stepped back as Naruto began taking slow steps towards him, he continued to deny that what Naruto was saying was the truth and raised his clawed hand above him.

"You aren't fooling me!"

Sora couldn't move though; because he had been caught in a Shadow mimic jutsu; which disallowed a person freedom of movement, by catching their shadows. A specialty of Shikamaru's.

Shikamaru, Ino and Choji were standing on one side, where Shikamaru had been able to mask his presence.

Sakura let out a breath in relief, good thing they appeared when they did.

Choji went up behind Sora, using his expansion Jutsu to expand his arms and hands to a larger size and hold Sora in place for good measure.

Sora glared at them, looking back to Naruto. "If you have the real Kyuubi inside of you. Why do you have so many friends!? I was always on my own, so why?"

"I was the same as you." Naruto stated. "When I was a kid, I was always on my own. The thing is, I never wasted any time feeling lonely. I wanted to force people to acknowledge me." He smiled then. "And these people became my friends."

Sakura smiled softly, starring at Naruto's back. 'He truly has become strong.'

Sora looked down, "I don't' have friends like you-

"You're wrong." Sakura interjected; causing Sora to look back at her.

"Aren't all of us your friends?" asked Naruto.

Something unusual happened to Sora then, the cloak around him started to increase in its heat and intensity. It was enough to cause Choji to release him as his hands were wounded; the skin on his hands burned off.

Ino quickly attempted her mind transfer jutsu. A hereditary ability passed in her family; it allowed her to transfer her conscience into another person and control their body however as soon as she was in; she broke away and returned to her body. Screaming.

"Ino!" Sakura exclaimed.

Lee and Kiba appeared from the forest tree then, landing in front of the blonde. Ino told them that there was no sign of a human heart inside of Sora anymore.

'So; this is the Kyuubi's cloak.' Sakura had heard about it. Apparently, it appeared on Naruto on that mission at the bridge when Orochimaru had appeared. Naruto had lost control and couldn't differentiate friend from foe.

Shikamaru also reached his limit with his technique and had to let go and the third tail on Sora's cloak appeared as well. The power Sakura felt was increasing.

Again, Naruto attempted to reach Sora but then the boy swiped his arm and that was enough to create a huge force that pushed Naruto back, sending him skidding back along the dirt. Yamato tried to encase Sora in a large cage of wood, without a single breathing gap, but the boy managed to break through it with ease.

Everyone was going at Sora now; attempting to stop his rampage with little success. Shikamaru, Choji and Ino couldn't restrain him; Kiba, Akamaru and Lee weren't able to do much damage with their direct attacks either. Sakura and Ino went to healing their friends. Naruto was repeatedly knocked down in his attempts to restrain Sora; but when he did finally manage to grab a hold of him, the chakra from Sora seeped into Naruto and he started to become encased in the red chakra. It was bringing out the Kyuubi's chakra inside of Naruto as well.

Naruto moved back from Sora and stared at his hand, his nails growing. "The Kyuubi's chakra is coming out on its own!"

Yamato immediately went to suppress the chakra; he summoned several wooden poles to stand around the two but now, he couldn't even suppress Naruto's chakra. He was being prevented by an unknown outside force. Sora's fourth tail emerged now, causing the Nine-Tails' cloak to envelop his body. Despite his current form, Naruto still attempted to bring Sora back to his sense but continued to be knocked back and now the Kyuubi's chakra was beginning to take over him as well.

But then he did something unexpected.

Naruto took out a kunai from his pouch and raised it high into the air. "I'm not going to let some stupid fox take over me!"

Naruto stabbed himself.

"Naruto!" Sakura cried out, wanting to rush over to him but Lee and Kiba grabbed her shoulders.

"Wait!"

"You can't go Sakura!" Lee said.

"I'm going to bring Sora back…." Naruto declared. "With my own hands!"

Sakura gasped, her eyes flashing with determination as she broke free from her friends hold. Running towards Naruto; she moved in front of him, grabbing his shoulders.

"Come on Naruto, fight it!" Sakura shook him lightly, ignoring the sting of the chakra cloak that burned her skin. Her djinn's were going wild in her mind, begging her to stop before she hurt herself.

Slowly, the chakra cloak around Naruto began to vanish, his red eyes flashed back to that deep blue. Naruto placed his hand on top of the pinkette's. Part of his skin around his face and his hands were also removed from the Kyuubi's chakra cloak.

"Thanks for that…Sakura."

Nodding, Sakura turned to Sora. "Now it's your turn; you better snap out of this Sora!"

"Wake the hell up Sora!" Naruto called.

Naruto remained determined to bring Sora back, despite being knocked back when he did, sending him across the ground.

"Naruto!" Turning from the blonde back to Sora, Sakura frowned.

'I won't let him do this alone.'

Sakura summoned her spear from a scroll and ran forward, attempting to hit Sora, but one of the tails swiped against her face, creating a stinging pain as she was sent into the air.

"ARGH"

Realizing she had to avoid crash landing; Sakura quickly flipped back and landed on her feet, although the impact was harder and rushed so she felt her straining bones creak and snap. Effectively breaking. Sakura clenched her jaw, still shrieking in pain.

"SAKURA" She heard her friends calling.

The pain in her face felt like needles pricking at her skin, the second degree burns pain almost didn't compare.

Then Sora drew back his head, drawing a large ball of white; aiming it for Sakura.

"SAKURA, NARUTO." Shikamaru called.

It all happened suddenly. Sora unleashed his devastating attack that cleared a large portion of the forest. Yamato created a shield with his wood to keep the group from getting hit but Naruto and Sakura were right in the line of fire.

Sakura was lying on the ground, when she opened her eyes she was met with Naruto's half burned face above her. Despite his injuries, he was still smiling; despite that he had just taken a hit like that and barely able to hold himself up. He was smiling.

Tears gathered in the corner of Sakura's eyes. "Naruto…."

"Sakura; are you okay."

"I'm sorry." Sakura said, wiping her eyes. "I thought I could help you and I…I'm sorry."

"Don't worry." Naruto said, moving back. "You just stay there and safe. I'm going to bring Sora back. No matter what."

Averting her eyes, Sakura bit her lip from protesting. There was truly nothing she could do at this point was there. She could already feel herself weakening further.

Lee quickly landed beside Sakura and picked her up, moving her away from the battle field and back to her other friends. Ino began to vigorously heal her external wounds.

"Dammit Sakura," Ino sniffed, looking at her friends condition. "What were you thinking?"

Sakura gave a sheepish smile, "Sorry."

Kiba frowned, "You know, I can't believe I'm saying this but it would be a great time for that girl to show up again."

"I was thinking the same thing." Shikamaru said.

Yamato gave the group questioning looks. "What girl?"

"This girl in a cat mask." Ino said, still healing Sakura's wound, but the chakra from the Kyuubi seemed to inflict a wound that couldn't be healed easily. She was also concerned about the way Sakura's veins were visible around her neck and face. What exactly had caused that? "She was the one who defeated that army of corpses."

"She completely eradicated the jutsu." Choji said.

"What?" Despite the explanation; Yamato was even more confused than before. He made a note to ask for a proper explanation when this was over.

Pushing through the pain, Naruto got to Sora (Not without still getting knocked around. When he was able to reach Sora, he delivered a punch and while no one knew what exactly happened, there was a huge vortex of red that formed a head, the head of a fox, with sharp white teeth and glowing yellow eyes.

"That's the…?" Sakura gaped. Something felt off about this though.

The fox head didn't remain long though, and started to vanish; fading until it was completely gone and things grew quiet once again. When it finally cleared and all went silent, everyone saw Naruto lying on the floor next to Sora. Both of their bodies were red, pealed of their skin but other than that, both alive.

"Most likely; after leaving Sora's body it needed a vessel to maintain its form." Yamato explained. "That's why the nine-tails chakra dissipated….It's over."

'Thank goodness.'

Sakura sighed in relief, allowing the darkness that was pushing its way to her to finally envelope her. The last thing she heard, were a few voices screaming her name. As everyone gathered around her in blurs, Sakura closed her eyes with a smile on her face because she knew she would wake up from this and all of her friends would be there too.

In line to scold her.

" _Well done, my king." Beleth said before she slipped away._

 **Well mark the end of this chapter. It was honestly a little harder to write than I anticipated, but this was a crucial point (as you'll find in later chapters) anyway-D** **on't go too far from this story though if you're itching to know what's going to happen next (Be it past or present) because I am going to be updating in two days!**

 **In the meantime, don't forget to review!**


	10. Present:Recognition

**As promised everyone, here's the next chapter, I couldn't wait to update this one. I suggest take your time reading this.**

 **Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

"Kakashi, how's the search going? Did you find anything" Tsunade asked in a frantic tone.

Kakash shook his head, "No, we're still coming up empty in the search."

Tsunade had been coming to his office, every day since the twin's birthday celebration after Sakura, Hinata, Ino, Esra and Badr's sudden disappearance right in front of everyone. The constant visits might have annoyed him if it wasn't for the fact that he shared in the concern for the disappearance of his and his comrades precious former students. Not to mention the wife's of his former team members.

The nature of their disappearance especially, had the girl's comrades and friends in hysterics about the situation. Kakashi had already sent out several trackers to look for them and he had also summoned his ninja hounds to search for them around the area. So far they weren't able to pick up a scent.

"I still can't get a sense of their chakra." Naruto's tone was grave. He had tried using his sage-mode in order to sense the girls and the twin's chakra but so far wherever he had gone, he came back with nothing. It was like they didn't exist anymore.

"I haven't been able to find anything either." Sai said. Although he was keeping a much calmer demeanour than Naruto; he was clearly distressed himself over missing his wife and worrying about her current condition.

There was a knocking on the door, Shikamaru entered. He had also been placed in charge of helping to find the missing kunoichi and Haruno twins. Shikamaru had one of the best analytical abilities in the village, his skills of deduction rivalled by his sloth like-nature.

"Shikamaru, did you figure anything out?" Naruto asked.

Shikamaru shook his head, "With what we have right now, I can't deduct many theories."

They had tried finding out about the women that appeared in Sakura's home that day, but they could not identify her, she wasn't on any records and there weren't any clues in Sakura's home either that would disclose how Sakura was connected to her. And with no way to track the women and the twins, things were grim.

"Come on Shikamaru, this is what you're good at!" Naruto exclaimed, clenching his fist in frustration. There were dark bags lining under his eyes, his usual bright face was pale and worn out. Naruto had been restless, not knowing the fate of his wife and friend's.

"I'm trying Naruto but I don't have much to go on. Think back!" Shikamaru reasoned, although he was exasperated himself.

" _Gy-Gyokuen." Sakura gasped out._

" _Hello little dove. My you've certainly grown."_

 _.._

 _.._

 _.._

 _Gyokuen's eyes loomed around, in a carless manner as if she was invited into Sakura's home. "What a lovely little nest you've made here. Ah-and of course, you have your own little chicks too!" Gyokuen's eyes fell on the twins hiding behind their mother, confused and also scared for the same reason the three women were._

 _.._

 _.._

 _.._

 _.._

" _How are you here?" Sakura shuffled Badr and Esra behind her back, her face hardening. "It shouldn't be possible!"_

 _Gyokuen laughed softly, gently holding her face. Sakura clenched her jaw, Gyokuen started stepping forward and with each step she took, Sakura took one back._

" _Little dove, I can't physically appear in this world just yet. Right now, I am merely a projection of thought, coming to you from another location." Gyokuen said coming to a halt. "I just came to make sure your departure went well."_

 _Sakura frowned, holding the urge to back further away. "Departure….What exactly are you getting at!?"_

 _.._

 _.._

 _.._

 _.._

 _Gyokuen then stated offhandedly, "You know, everyone still misses you little dove. My beloved Hakuei had developed such an admiration she's conquered a dungeon and became a king's candidate herself."_

 _Sakura's jaw clenched, loosening only for her speak after swallowing her fear. "I'm sick of this game Gyokuen. What the hell do you want with me?"_

" _Oh it's not just what I want with you; little dove." Gyokuen said, she tilted her head to the side, feigning an expression of nativity. "It's what Al-Thamen wants."_

 _Sakura inhaled sharply._

" _Ah, so you do remember!"_

" _Falan…She's also-_

" _That's correct," Gyokuen snickered, covering her mouth. "See little dove, after you escaped from Kou, I was supposed to leave you and that singularity in Falan's hands. Until you created a hajin. We weren't counting on you leaving or I would've destroyed that mirror while it was still in Kouen's possession."_

" _So you knew all along."_

" _Of course! Why do you think, I so earnestly turned you to my Hakuyuu? Of course, your preference fell towards the singularity instead." Gyokuen looked at the golden ring hanging around Sakura's neck. Gyokuen sighed softly, putting her hand under her chin; a malicious smile appearing on her face. "So I'm going to return you to him!"_

 _Something started happening to the barrier around the five girls and children, it was started to shrink, caging them in further and it was growing darker, obscuring their sight._

" _What's happening!?" Ino screeched, looking around frantically, along with Hinata._

 _Pointing a slim finger at the three, Gyokuen's smile boarded and Sakura saw a kind of black, void look in her eyes. "I'll see you soon; little dove."_

"They talked about something called Al-Thamen and mentioned a few names but we're not familiar with any of them. All we know is that the women that appeared is named Gyokuen. We also know that she is somehow connected to Sakura but we have no idea how. She also seems to have some unusual abilities. I can't even conceive a theory as to why she would want Sakura when we don't' even know the link between them."

Kakashi placed his elbows on the table, interlinking his fingers. Thinking back to that night when he saw them disappear in that flashing light.

"I think it's safe to assume they've been teleported somewhere. More likely to the location that women wanted-perhaps they're imprisoned somewhere." Kakashi said. "Going through that effort, it's safe to assume that they're wanted alive."

"Yes, but where is the problem." Sai pointed. "With time, we don't know how much longer that status will last and they become disposable. Without knowing the reasons for the abduction, we have to be on high alert."

Shiakamaru nodded, holding his chin, his eyes shining with concern. "Not to mention; I think it's safe to assume that Sakura was the only target."

"What does that mean?" asked Naruto.

"It means Ino and Hinata; Badr and Esra could be nothing more than collateral damage." Stated Sai, frowning. "That's not a good thing."

Kakashi thought hard; at first he thought that they would be able to figure out and solve this situation on their own, but perhaps there was a lot more going on than they initially thought. Not knowing what had become of Ino, Hinata, Sakura, Badr and Esra was haunting. They couldn't have just vanished without a trace right?

Kakashi closed his eyes tightly before opening them with a new determination. They did have one more solution hidden in the shadows of Konoha.

'I might have to call him back.'

* * *

Aladdin, Morgiana and Esra were walking together through the forest trail on their way to Balbadd. They each had a spring in their steps for their own reasons. Aladdin was going to Balbadd to meet up with his old friend Alibaba, Morgiana was going there to take a ship to her homeland and Esra was going to start her search for her family. Another reason was also on a likely account that they were no longer imprisoned and on the verge of being turned into slaves.

The road leading to Balbadd was a path through a light forest of tropical vegetation, bright and vibrant, and there was a cool breeze kept the three from burning under the sun.

"Hey Mor, you're going to Balbadd to catch a trip to your homeland right?" asked Aladdin

"Yes, and I also wanted to meet with you and Alibaba again."

It turned out that the story Morigana told Esra about the boys who helped free her was Aladdin and another boy named Alibaba. They were heading to Balbadd to meet him again after almost a year apart. "Hey Esra, your brother's also a dungeon capturer huh?"

Esra nodded, "I suppose, but I don't really get all this dungeon and djinn business. My mom kinda explained things to us in the dungeon but…"

"Oh; dungeons are these huge towers and inside of them are djinns. I heard they give you these stranger powers when they become your metal vessels. I've actually met another metal vessel user on my travels." Aladdin told her. "She was a princess from the Kou Empire, I saw her transform using her metal vessel."

Esra frowned; thinking about it, Sakura had a similar power to what Aladdin was describing. "My mom's a metal vessel user too then." Esra said. "She'd have about five metal vessels but she doesn't have them with her now."

Aladdin gasped, "Five!? Whoa, that's a lot! She went through that many dungeons?"

"I don't really know the whole story, but I'd sure like to get it when I see her."

"I'm sure we'll find your mother and your brother, Esra." Morgiana said before pointing in front of her. "For now, let's just keep following this road."

"Right."

Esra stopped when she heard it again; the rukh's fluttering. It was ringing in her ears and made her devoid of her surroundings as she attempted to search for the single cause of that fluttering-but then something more alarming caught her attention in the middle of the road.

Just as Aladdin, Esra and Morgiana turned their line of vision someone appeared on the road in front of them, seemingly coming out of nowhere.

A tall man with long purple hair tied back in a ponytail behind him and deep golden coloured eyes, he was completely naked, wearing literally nothing but a leaf to cover his-'himself'.

It was taking more than several seconds for the three youngsters to process the appearance of the stranger but they were awakened from their slow states by his voice.

"Hey there, nice weather we're having huh?"

With wide eyes, Morgiana and Aladdin quickly got into their own fighting stances.

"Stand back Mor, Esra; he might be dangerous!" Aladdin said, holding out his hand to shield the girls.

"Don't worry," Morgiana said, holding up her arms "I'll take care of this!"

"Wa-Wait I'm not!"

Esra was completely quiet during their conversation, her head lowered and arms tightly against her sides, shaking. Grinding her teeth and a visible a vein appearing on her forehead. She raised her head, eyes blazing furiously with tears in the corner of her eyes. She jumped into the air, heading straight towards the bare man. Her fist pulled forward.

"CHAAAAA!"

There was a cloud of dust that could be seen on the road to Balbadd and now a shallow crater in the middle of that road. Luckily for the stranger who was lying in it, he barely missed the girl's punch, her fist buried in the hard ground right beside his head.

"I-I'm not…." He stuttered, with a nervous streaks of sweat forming on his face as he struggled to get the words out.

* * *

Days turning to weeks and weeks turned into a month and yet not once did Sakura's frustrations, worries and fears calm with time, if anything they only amplified. Her mind constantly filled with scenarios on could have happened to her son and daughter. The drive to keep searching, keep running and chasing was constant but eventually Sakura also realized that she could not always run on a continuum and that she was not the only one a part of this search. She had to take care of Ino and Hinata and well; who were complete novices to this world. Just the mention of slavery had been enough to turn Ino and Hinata's blood cold. Sakura told them that this was a very common and legalized practice in this world and it was on a completely different scale to what they might have known it to be in their world.

They stopped in a nearby town after running low on supplies for the last five days. They had been heading north since waking up from the dungeon, taking various stops at towns, to stock up, do a brief search for Sakura's children and then took off again. The towns were often very small and easy to search through. Hinata also helped out a lot in this case with her Byakugan. However they came up with nothing by far.

"Let's take a rest here. We'll stock up and then find an inn for the night." Sakura instructed, walking through the various stalls set up. The bazar wasn't as large compared to the ones Sakura had been to, but they would be able to find everything they needed here.

"Thank you, finally a bed. I am tired of sleeping in the sand." Ino exclaimed, rubbing some sand off the back of her neck for emphasis on her point.

"It does sound nice." added Hinata, even if it was just for one night before they were back to roughing it; not that they weren't use to this kind of lodging. After all, ninja missions often had them camping out.

"We should probably get different clothes too." Sakura suggested, looking over all of their attire which was far from suited for this world's climates.

After glancing through several clothing stalls, they stopped at a particular one that was majority women's clothing and appeared more 'appropriate' for travelling.

"Wow, I've gotta say this might be the one good thing that's happened since coming to this world." Ino said, admiring herself in the mirror. After picking out their clothing; the girls moved to a small changing room set up at the back of the stall. Ino had chosen a purple top cutting off right around her shoulders with golden trimming showing off her flat stomach, and light sirwal pants with two slits at her leg and thigh, along with some purple flat shoes.

"It's a lot more comfortable." Said Hinata. Hinata was wearing a sleeveless blue top that ended in light frills right above her stomach, with white sirwal pants and golden trimming along it, adding in with some blue flats for her feet and a light throw over.

Sakura chuckled dryly; the last time she had changed her attire like this she ended up getting transferred to Imuchakk which had a rigidly cold climate.

"What's funny?" asked Ino curiously.

Sakura shook her head, "Nothing."

Sakura had taken a short light red top acting as a wrap around her chest in a cross pattern with red sirwal pants, slit around the beginning of her waist to her upper thigh and dark flats.

Pushing the curtain to the side, Sakura lead them out, "Let's get going."

* * *

Continuing their trip through the bazaar, there was a small crowd gathering around a fruit stall with two girls; one in particular had a very enthusiastic call; drawing customers in. There was a reminder of the first time Sakura had come to Reim with Sinbad, setting up their stalls with the goods from Imuchakk, there had been a lot of fuss about it and a lot of troubles that followed.

Sakura hadn't realized she was smiling, running her hand through her hair at the memory. 'That idiot…'

Ino pointed to the crowded stand, "I'm in the mood for something sweet, like peaches. How about it?"

"That sounds good." Hinata hummed, following after Ino as the blonde made way through the crowd, shortly after Sakura went after her friends.

Ino and Hinata got to the front of the line, "Do you have any peaches?"

"Um, sorry we're just waiting for a new shipment, it should be here shortly if you'll wait." Sahsa said.

Ino nodded, "Sure, in the meantime can I get a few of those figs?"

"Of course!" Sahsa said, moving to gather the packet.

"Here's the shipment, Sahsa, Leila!" An elderly man called, he was swaying from the weight of the bags he was carrying in a barrel.

"I told you to let me help!" Leila said, stomping her foot before moving to assist with the barrel. Pulling it over to the store, she immediately opened a barrel of peaches and put them out for Ino. "Here you go miss."

"Thanks."

Sakura sighed, crossing her arms; keeping herself at a bit of a distance from the crowd. "Okay you two, are you finished yet?"

"Yeah" Ino waved, taking a bite of one of the peaches she just bought and moaned. "These are really sweet, Sakura you've got to have one of these!"

Leila's movements stopped as she looked over at the pink haired women that was talking with Ino and Hinata. She nudged Sahsa who was talking to another customer.

"What is it?" asked Sahsa.

Leila pointed to the three women, "That women with the pink haire…isn't she?"

Sahsa looked in the direction that Leila had pointed to their previous customers; talking to a women in red with pink hair and emerald green eyes.

 _Esra opened her locket, showing the picture of her mother and brother to Sahsa and Leila. "Are you sure that you haven't seen either of them when you found me?"_

 _Lelia and Sahsa took the locket to get a closer look at the pictures, they were small but the images were clear and visible enough to make out the features of both individuals._

" _No, I'm sorry Esra." Sahsa said sincerely as she handed the locket back to the distressed girl._

" _What's your mom's name?" asked Leila._

" _It's-_

"Sakura…." Leila murmured watching as Sakura, Ino and Hinata turned around and were about to walk away.  
"Sakura Haruno!" Leila screamed through the crowd.

The pinkette stopped and turned back around at the recognition of her name being called but confused because of who had called her.

"How do you know my name?" Sakura asked from the distance.

The three women shared the same curious and somewhat suspicious expressions but what Leila sad next had then right in front of the stall again.

"Do you have a daughter named Esra?"

* * *

Although there were clearly a lot of questions yet to be answered, one thing was certain and that was, there was no way they were going to be staying at an inn or getting a peaceful sleep for a while longer.

"Thanks for lending me these clothes Aladdin. My names Sin."

Sinbad hadn't expected any of this when he had been prepared to leave for Balbadd. He was going to talk to its current king about their trading situation; as there had been a pause on exchange between Balbadd and his country Sindria. To make matters worse, while he stopped to take a nap after having too much wine, he had been completely cleaned out by bandits. They not only took his clothes, but his metal vessels as well.

'Ja'far is going to kill me.'

Sinbad was sitting on one of the rocks around the fire that had been set up.

"I'm so sorry sir! I shouldn't have attacked you." Esra said, blushing embarrassed thinking back to the ordeal that transcended. She was often told by people she reminded them of a younger, short tempered Sakura who tended to attack on impulse in situations of similar proportion.

After discovering the strange man on the road and Esra nearly breaking his skull; he explained to them his reason for his current state of being. After that Aladdin gave Sinbad some of his clothes, however given that every person in their group was no taller than 4.9 he had to wrap Aladdin's pants around him in a way that reminded Esra of a diaper and he also put the throw over on, even though it was a tight fit around his arms and didn't cover his chest.

"It's okay," Sinbad laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. "But I was surprised, you're really strong aren't you?"

Esra looked down, still flustered. "I should've at least heard you out. I'm so sorry."

Sinbad shook his head, "Don't worry about it….it's not the first time something like this has happened to me-but it has been a while."

Sinbad couldn't help but chuckle to himself when he remembered all those moments Sakura had attacked and punched him, with her strength it was nowhere near your regular hit and he'd often be going through walls. Sakura did that whenever she was annoyed with him about his behaviour or when he would sneak up on her (of course that usually followed with an apology that made the attack worth it.).

Looking over at Esra, Sinbad couldn't help but think that he was having a remarkable sense of déjà vu. Especially when she leapt into the air and made that huge crater.

'Thought it was her for a second.'

"I'm sorry too." Aladdin said sheepishly; breaking Sinbad from his thoughts. "I guess that crossing the desert has made me a bit paranoid."

Sinbad appeared intrigued, holding his chin he asked. "Oh? So you've crossed the desert?"

"I crossed the Central Desert, coming from the northern Tenzan Plateau." Aladdin said, kicking his legs and pumping his arms up in the air excitedly. "I saw so many unusual plants and animals."

Sinbad moved to stoke the fire, "That's great…That euphoria when encountering new lands and knowledge." He closed his eyes in nostalgia. "The confidence, experience and the bonds of friendship that are formed through adventuring are priceless. Adventures are splendid. They are truly what makes a man a man."

Aladdin jumped up, "I totally understand how you feel mister!"

Sinbad nodded before looking over to the two quiet girls. "And not only that; you also get to meet lovely ladies like you two."

Esra didn't reply; unable to comment on how he could find a girl who nearly knocked him unconscious, 'lovely' and Morgiana just gave a small 'oh' before the wind blew and a salty scent hit the young Fanalis girl's nose. Her sense of smell was stronger than average humans. She stood up, taking another deep breath.

"I can smell the ocean."

Esra stood up, "Really?"

Sinbad pointed forward, telling them that they should be able to see the country Balbadd up ahead. The three ran off in that direction, passing through the grove of trees and reaching the top of the hill where they were met with a breath taking view.

The smell of the sea was strong enough for everyone to detect now; the hundreds upon hundreds of stone buildings seemingly packed closely together from the aerial view they were getting from on top of the hill, the ocean was vast and far dipped with islands all around, most making up the country; in the distance further out there were barren mountains surrounding one part of the country while the resto f it was covered by the sae. It was one of the most breath taking sights Esra had ever witnessed before.

"This…."

"Is Balbadd." Morgiana breathed softly.

* * *

Sinbad introduced the group to Balbadd, the oceanic nation made up of hundreds of islands. Leaving the hill they went further in until they reached the city. Looking at the bazars stalls, the different businesses, the crowds of people and more. Sinbad briefed them a little on the country's history. Its relations with the north, north east, Parthevia and Reim Empire's in the west. A country that flourished as the centre of maritime trade. The monarchy that ruled over Balbadd, Saluja governed Balbadd for generations.

Although Sinbad seemed more than happy to give the children a tour around the city; Esra couldn't help noticing that he seemed rather occupied in thought whenever they would give him a moments peace. His face would harden as he observed his surroundings; as if there was something daunting on his mind but she didn't bother to bring it up.

Coming along one of the peers bridges, they saw something painted in red on the wall.

"Down with the monarchy." Aladdin read.

"The country fell into disorder with the death of their previous king." Sinbad told them.

Esra stared up at the writing, she couldn't read it though; it was written in a form she had never seen before and that wasn't all that bothered her. There was something about this place though; something that was making her think back to those stories her mother told her. With the sailor. Meeting a king who ruled a country.

'A country made up of islands….'

"But you'll be perfectly safe here." Sinbad said stretching his arm out to show them the large building behind him, it was very extravagant in aesthetics with a large dome shaped roof at the entrance, going further up the building extended with multiple windows and then several pointed triangular rooftops. "It's where I always stay, it's one of the best hotels in the country. I'll take care of the bill; you three can stay here for as long as you want."

Morgiana, Esra and Aladdin thanked Sinbad. Although there was something Esra worried about as Sinbad turned around and made his way up.

And that worry was soon validated.

When Sinbad walked up the steps he was stopped from entering, of coursed dressed the way he was Esra wasn't the least bit surprised. Then two men came over and cleared up the situation. There was a man with white hair and another large man with red hair and pink eyes-much like Morgiana's.

* * *

Ja'far and Masrur did not expect that leaving their master alone to sober up was going to cause this much of a hassel. After arriving in Balbadd ahead of time, they went to book the hotel rooms and waited. It was a surprise when Sinbad came in dressed the way he was and being stopped by the guards. They first had to clear up that misunderstanding before they were able to get the actual matters at hand.

"It seems our master has inconvenienced you quite a bit." Ja'far said "As he said, you can leave the bill for you lodgings to us."

"Thank you, friends of Sin." Aladdin said gratefully, while Esra and Morgiana bowed in thanks.

Ja'far started pulling Sinbad away, to get him changed out of those clothes. Sinbad looked back at the three and called out.

"I'll see you guys later, let's get together for food!"

Masrur gave a glance at the Fanalis girl, before turning around and heading after Sinbad and Ja'far.

* * *

Aladdin, Morgiana and Esra were taken to their room, it was incredibly large, but the space was filled with furniture, a desk, couch set; a table with fruit bowel, there were only two beds but it went without saying who was going to be sharing, it was also plenty large. The style the room was very busy, with different colours and patterns, deep and contrasting but beautiful never the less.

"Wow, this room is amazing!" Aladdin rushed to one of the beds, his arms wide open as he landed.

Before the women that had lead them to their room could leave and let the young children relish in the luxury, Aladdin called her before she could close the door.

"Excuse me miss. Do you know where we would be able to find a ship heading to the Dark Continent?"

"The Dark Continent? Oh you mean the ships heading south." The women stepped back fully into the room. "I'm afraid that's a difficult trip to make right now. You see…."

She explained to them about the current internal strife in Balbadd. Sinbad had mentioned that this country was having problems but it seemed that it had a wide-scale effect. There has been a group of thieves calling themselves the Fouge Troupe, who have been raiding countries most wealthy and upper class members in society. They appear at night within the fog, hence their name. They started off as a small group, but they have been growing in numbers since two years ago. Now, the rumours were they used magical weapons, attacking the mansions of nobles and national trading vessels.

"Because they redistribute the goods they've stolen some people review them as heroes."

"You're saying that they're chivalrous thieves?" asked Morgiana.

"That's what many presume. They had just received a new leader as well; his name is Alibaba. They call him Wonder Man Alibaba."

Aladdin and Morgiana gasped at the familiar name and Esra recalled it from the stories she heard.

"Isn't that…?" Esra trailed unsurely.

"No, it couldn't be." Aladdin shook his head. "It's gotta be someone else."

"Right." Morgiana nodded.

* * *

Esra was still in awe, overlooking the scene of Balbadd from on top of the restaurant's roof, taking in the vast city. Later on into the day, they had gotten a message from Sinbad to join him for lunch and they went to meet with him. When overlooking the vast country, even from that hill before, Esra wondered how she was going to find Sakura, Hinata, Ino and Badr in such a big world. If this was what one country looked like; what were the other's like? How was she going to get through and she had absolutely no leads whatsoever about where to find them?

'I hope they're all okay.'

"Esra, why don't you come and eat." Sinbad called the girl who was standing at the end of the roof.

She hoped off the wall and went to sit next to Morgiana and Aladdin, taking a bite out of the dish. A Balbadd speciality as Sinbad boasted, herb cooked Eumera sea bream.

"This is good." The girl said absentmindedly.

Sinbad smiled, seeing all three children settled.

"I haven't introduced you to my subordinates yet. This is Ja'far and Masrur." Sinbad gestured to the two men standing next to him at the table. "And Morgiana this might interest you; Masrur is a Fanalis. So are you right? You both have the exact same eyes."

The two exchanged a brief greeting and Esra wondered if all Fanalis were like this; rather quiet of course she assumed that was when they weren't fighting.

The one know as Ja'far was a man with pale skin; several freckles painted across his face; he had white hair and grey eyes. Next to him was a large muscular man with red hair and red eyes exactly like Morgiana's.

"He's right, you do have the same eyes." Esra pointed out.

Sinbad nodded, "Well, Fanalis do all have similar features like that."

"Yeah, but so do you and Esra," Aladdin said, looking back between the two.

It was only after Aladdin pointed this out, that Sinbad and Esra actually realized how true that was. And so did everyone else.

..

..

..

..

..

Sinbad then went to go and sit at another table to speak with Ja'far about some business while Masrur was occupied by Aladdin, who had pulled Morgiana and Esra with him to ask questions. He seemed more excited at the concept of Morgiana meeting someone derived from her race than she was.

"Hi, I'm Aladdin."

"I'm Esra."

"Nice to meet you." Masrur replied, keeping a dull expression.

"You are Mor are from the same place right?"

"Yes."

"You're so big!" Aladdin exclaimed, spreading his arms. He looked to Morgiana. "Are other Fanalis like him?"

"I'm not sure." Morgiana replied honestly.

Esra sighed, shaking her head. "Aladdin…."

Aladdin grabbed his flute, smiling. "Ugo's still in a league of his own though."

Esra held up her hand, realizing what Aladdin intended on doing and that was most likely going to scare everyone off this roof-which might not be the safest thing to do from this height and all logic and rationality of gravity leaves those overcome with panic.

"Aladdin don't-

Aladdin already blew on the flute and two large muscular arms started coming out; that was enough to clear out the entire roof aside from Sinbad and his subordinates. Ja'far ended up spitting out his water, nearly onto Sinbad. When Sinbad turned around, he was just as taken aback.

"AAAH"

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

Sinbad stared up at the blue giant sitting in front of him and then looked back to the children behind him. "Aladdin; so you're a magi too huh?"

"Too? Hey mister does that mean you know of other magi's?" asked Aladdin curiously.

"I sure do." Sinbad said, moving over to rub the giant's djinn's arms. He was just sitting with his legs crossed, the flute sticking out where his head should start. It was still comical to see.

After everything calmed down, the group decided to evacuate to a more remote location where Aladdin could summon Ugo without drawing a lot of attention. They were in a secluded area near the hotel, close to a bridge where there didn't seem to be a lot of people.

"So mister, who are you exactly?" asked Aladdin.

"I am Sinbad." The way the purple haired man spoke gave indication to the youth that he was expecting them to know, but the plain expressions on their faces shockingly enough told him otherwise. Not that it could really be helped

Morgiana's previous life didn't exactly allow her much free time to find out about the happenings in the world; Aladdin may have been a traveller but he hadn't exactly been around for as long as people would assume and Esra-she wasn't even from that world. So naturally the group was based on the young, oblivious and naive. A rather dangerous combination if you were travelling.

"You haven't heard of me? You know from the adventures of Sinbad?" Unknown to them, he was referring to his written biography and stories but then again, the reasons they wouldn't know weren't too obvious for other's.

"Who?" Aladdin titled his head to side, not even bothering to hide his rather vapid expression. Esra and Morgiana just bordered on confused.

"The man who travelled countless roads and sailed untold voyages, who navigated the world's seven seas." Sinbad spoke with a heightened pitch in his voice as if he was projecting it off a stage to narrate a play. "Who has conquered seven dungeons and built his own country! The master of seven djinn, high king of the seven seas, Sinbad."

Esra frowned, sailed voyages….king; that had an odd correlation to Sakura's stories but she brushed it off as a coincidence. She had enough worries without starting her own conspiracy theories.

"T-That's….amazing?" Aladdin asked, more than stated. "I'm not sure if I really understand though."

Sinbad looked really shocked that Aladdin wasn't aware of who he was. "You don't? Even though you're a magi?"

Aladdin's expression changed to a more serious one, "Hey mister, what exactly is a Magi? I'm not sure I understand really.

Sinbad cleared his throat, holding his arm up to gesture to Ugo; "Well first off, this definitely proves that you are a magi. Only a magi can produce enough magoi to summon a djinn for such an extended period of time. Magoi refers to the energy produced by rukh. Ordinary people are only able to use the rukh inside their bodies but Magi are not limited and can use the rukh all around them. Magi are loved by the rukh, they're really amazing."

Aladdin was still scratching the back of his neck at the end of Sinbad's explanation but Esra was holding a better understanding of the way this world work. So it didn't look like anyone could use chakra, she figured that much at least.

"Hey Aladdin since you're a magi I have a favour to ask; do you think you could help me capture the thieves that have thrown this country into an uproar?" Sinbad asked

Ja'far was quick to intercept putting his hand on his master's shoulder, squeezing it tightly.

"Are you really going to involve these children Sin?"

"What are you worried about; Aladdin is a magi after all and he has enough powers to have been chosen by fate. Not to mention the fact that we don't even have one metal vessel."

"And whose fault is that?" Ja'far shot back

Ja'far may have been loyal to his king but he felt that Sinbad had changed much over the years; he was a great ruler who had accomplished his dream to form his own country and become king. When Sakura had vanished without a trace he sought to do everything in his power to make his country as soon as possible; believing that it may bring her back to him. Sinbad had told him that they had made a promise to rule the country together but after she left Sinbad had gone into a state of depression that had taken him a very long time to recover and even now he hadn't fully regained that lively spirit that he had when the pink haired girl was around. Ja'far himself as well as Masrur and everyone else who had become close to the pinkette were nothing short of heartbroken when she had left without warning; vanishing from this world to return to her own.

Of course some of Sinbad's habits hadn't changed.

"What do you guys think?" asked Aladdin.

Morgiana walked over to the end of the road, looking down into the water. "I want to travel to the Dark Continent, if we defeat the Fog Troupe the ships will be able to sail again right?"

Sinbad nodded, "That's why we're here."

"We're also searching for someone." Morgiana said "Actually several people; Esra lost her family and she's been searching for them this whole time. If we help you deal with this situation, could you ask this king for help in our search?"

"I will." Sinbad promised; even if he couldn't get the current king of Balbadd Ahbmad to agree to hep, he would be able to.

"We'll do it!" Aladdin said.

Sinbad grinned, "Great, then let's start planning. Morgiana and Esra, you can wait at the hotel."

The girl's faces dropped. Sinbad put his hands on the girls shoulders and started pushing them forward, "Morgiana although a Fanalis and even if you're really strong Esra; I cannot ask two young girls to fight."

Esra and Morginana slammed their feet into the ground, creating craters that effectively halted Sinbad's motion to move them any further. They both looked back angrily at the king of Sindria.

"We're going to fight."

Sinbad stiffened as he felt a drop of sweat glide down his face nervously. "Yes ma'am's."

Ja'far was looking at Esra with a sceptical expression; she had strength that he had only seen possessed by Sakura. What's more, he was starting to see something rather worrisome the closer he looked at her and Sinbad. Especially after Aladdin made that comment about their eyes.

He shook his head, convincing himself that he was merely over analysing this.

* * *

During their planning session, it was stated that the Fog Troupe was going to attack either the wealthy merchant, Aljaris or a noble's mansion, Haldhub's. Ja'far reasoning for that had been based on the false information spread about the movements of the army. Apparently the Fog Troupe has supporters even within the government. It was questioned whether or not they were actually doing the right thing by capturing the Fog Troupe members when they were so vastly supported. Sinbad said he was going to act on what he believed and that everyone should do the same; in the end though; everyone had agreed to capture the thieves together. Each for the sake of their own goals.

Esra sighed, she wondered now how things had come to this. One moment she was happily enjoying her birthday part with her family and friends and the next she ends up in another world; getting separated from her mother and brother, having to fight against slave merchants, coming across shady characters (Sinbad) and now she was actually going against a group of thieves. She heard that Karma was cruel to those who deserved it and everyone got their just punishment.

'What am I being punished for exactly?' was the question she really wanted the answer to in order to make sense of everything that's happened thus far. It couldn't have been possible for a ten year old to suffer this much misfortune.

They had spilt into two groups. Sinbad with Masrur and Ja'far with Morgiana, Aladdin and Ersa. There was a concern about leaving Sinbad and Masrur to guard the mansion alone. They were literally less than half of their group and they didn't have any military hands- who were also guarding the area where Ja'far, Morgiana, Esra and Aladdin were stationed. Ja'far assured them though that they had nothing to worry about.

'Given that I almost punched him out, I think there's something to worry about.' Esra couldn't' help but think.

Morgiana and Aladdin were guarding down below on the ground so Esra decided to take the high ground with Ja'far, leaping onto the roof easily. She was able to overlook the mansion but her eyes were trailing up to the sky, while the fog continued to roll in from down below. The air was extremely cold, contrasting with the day's climate.

She fiddled with the locket, feeling the cold breeze ran across her skin without shivering. Ja'far appeared and walked up from behind her.

"Are you alright Esra?"

The young girl nodded but Ja'far was certain she wasn't.

"You see distracted; what's on your mind?" he asked.

Esra looked down again "I'm just thinking about my family. It's been more than a month since I was separated from them. My mom and my brother."

"And your father?" Ja'far asked before really thinking it through.

The little girl scoffed at the mention of the man she has never known who she shared the same genetics with. Unlike Badr she did not flinch at the common question because he still had an attachment to the idea and hope of meeting their father someday. Esra on the other hand had long disregarded the thought, supposed the best way to do that was to resent the thought of meeting the man who left their mother to raise them alone. All Sakura really ever said was that the two had separated before either were aware of the twins but Esra still reflected her negativity onto the phantom that was her father. After seeing Sakura cry; Esra had chosen her side to stand on.

Her mother's.

"Don't' know him. We've been separated from him since before we were born apparently."

Ja'far paused, sensing the girl's bitterness from where he stood. It must not have been a good history.

"Where were you all before you were separated?"

"It was a dungeon…." Esra replied and she heard Ja'far gasp.

"You were in a dungeon?!" Ja'far spluttered, nearly losing his balance.

Esra nodded, "After my brother conquered it; we were leaving that place but then something happened during that and I woke up alone. That's when I met Morgiana and have been travelling with her since."

Ja'far was silent for a while; thinking carefully about the kind of response he was going to give to that. Although he wasn't able to since his attention was diverted back to the ground where the guards were standing and laughing deliriously at nothing. Then a mist of pink rolled in, with the white and overtook the area.

"What is that?"

Morgiana, Aladdin jumped onto the roof beside Esra, watching as the guards were laughing before they drew their swords and started battling against one another; screaming at one another and calling each other 'thieves'

"They seem to be caught in some kind of illusion." Ja'far stated.

"Like a genjutsu." Esra said looking down at the men.

"The mist must be some kind of magic." The white haired man said, looking back down.

Sure enough it turned out it was, there were a group of people gathering through the fog. Their faces were covered with white fabric to keep from being exposed to the mist. When they reached the front of mansions walls, they used a magic sword to erode through the walls. There was no doubt that the group gathered were the thieves known as the Fog Troupe.

"Let's go! Our targets that fat pigs mansion. Go wild!"

As the group ran onto the mansions grounds, several were stopped by Ja'far making his presence known; throwing out the wires wrapped around his arms with two blades attached at the end. He pinned down several members of the Troupe and pulled back causing them to fall over one another.

One of the men looked up at Ja'far, "Are you part of the army?"

"No, but I have my own reasons for capturing each and every single one of your." Ja'far said, his grey eyes gleaming dangerously, a cold expression on his face as he leapt down towards the thieves to fight. Landing, he pulled on the strings, but focusing on the enemy in front, he failed to notice the black mist with a thick appearance rolling towards him on the ground. Once it reached Ja'far the mist coiled around him, restraining his movements, and pulling him down with force.

Ja'far struggled against the heavy mist but it was no use, he couldn't lift himself up and the more he struggled the tighter the mist wounded around him.

"Another magical weapon?"

"That's right. The sword of shackling Ebon Fog." Ja'far craned his neck painfully to the side to see the owner of the new voice. There was a young man, tall with tan skin, long purple dreadlocks and dull yellow eyes "Now you can't move a finger."

"Cassim!" One of the men exclaimed in relief at the appearance of one of the Fog Troupe's leaders.

"Our leader and ain force has arrived!"

There were several men standing behind Cassim; two of the shortest stepped forward, their faces covered in a white wrap. They casually proceeded towards the entrance of the mansion followed by the other thieves.

"Let's go!"

Esra and Morgiana leapt from the building, on landing they immediately started to strike down the thieves, making their way towards the three who were leading them closer to their goal. Morgiana was swifter and managed to reach them before Esra, but before she was able to attack someone had shouted in warning to them and Morgiana was encased in the black fog mist as well.

Esra decided to take another approach.

Launching forward, Esra took to attacking Cassim and he attempted to use the same attack he had to subdue Morgiana and Ja'far but when the black mist wrapped around the girl; she vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving behind a piece of wood in her stead. The replacement jutsu. One of the basics taught to her and Badr by Sakura.

Ja'far's eyes widened in shock when he saw Esra use that jutsu. He only knew one person who was able to do something like that. But from what he knew, she was no longer in this world and yet there was someone right in front of him that was using the techniques of said person.

'How can she…?'

"What!?" Cassim blocked Esra's drop kick by holding up his sword as offense and pushed her back.

Esra came for a return but someone intervened, blocking her attack and countering with a punch. The two began clashing, Esra was being drawn back as she continued to attack and block the mysterious young boy's attacks. The fight was becoming so intense that almost all eyes had fallen on them. Watching the two youngsters battle in anticipation.

"Wow; this kid really is good!"

"And I thought Cassim was kidding, but he's got skills!"

'What the….how's he keeping up?' Esra wondered; the way he was fighting it was as if he knew what move she was going to do next.

"Now's your chance!" Cassim exclaimed to all the Fog Troupe members. "Take the goods and run for it!"

The group of thieves were back on their way to looting the mansion when Aladdin, who was situation on top of the roof right in front of the entrance to the mansion, summoned Ugo from the flute. The appearance of the giant blue djinn with no head was enough to frighten those who had seen him before and the novices to djinn were especially prone to react fearfully.

Aladdin stood on top of Ugo, holding out his arms. "I won't let you pass!"

Because of the djinn's appearance, Esra's opponent was thrown off guard and she took the chance to pin him to the ground after delivering a swift series of punches to the stomach and chest, then finishing off with a powerful kick that sent him skidding across the courtyard.

"Cha, take that!"

The boy groaned, attempting to gather himself from the rubble only for Esra to leap into the air and land, her legs spread to land on the boys side, caging him in; she put a hand on his chest and head and shoved him back harshly.

"Nice try punk!"

"Dammit get off me, mini monster!"

Esra pulled back, gasping sharply and starring at the boy with wide eyes in recognition of the nick name. Her movements stopped as she unknowingly held her breath.

"No way…."

Cassim readied to fight when a hand landed on his shoulder, he looked beside him at his comrade, still hiding his face with a wrap. "What's the matter partner?"

"Leave this to me." He said walking passed Cassim and over to stand in front of the djinn and Aladdin.

Aladdin stared down at the surpassed enemy, but caught the glimpse of blonde hair and bright golden eyes….

"Wait…."

When the wrap was removed, it revealed a familiar face starring back coldly at Aladdin; but effectively depleted his desire to capture the Fog Troupe. And the same went for Esra. The violet haired girl roughly pulled the wrap around her opponent's head; to reveal her older twin brother lying beneath her.

"Alibaba?"

"Badr?"

 **AND THAT MARKS THE END OF THIS CHAPTER.**

 **Well I hope it was as enjoyable to read for you all as it was for me to write it.**

 **Don't forget to review!**


	11. The Past:Surprising news and arrivals

**Okay everyone, first off I want to say thanks for the reviews. I haven't been able to write even though I was on a break because I've been out a lot more than I planned to be but I am determined to get chapter 12 and 13 up before I go back to university.**

 **Also with this chapter up I have posted some art on Deviantart you can check out after reading this chapter.**

 **READ AND ENJOY!**

* * *

Leaning back against the pillows, Sakura yawned. "I can't believe Lady Tsunade has me confined to the hospital until she decides to discharge me. Knowing her; it's going to be after I give birth!"

Sai, who on was the left side of her, was holding up a book with his good hand and reading. "Perhaps you should've considered that before you acted reckless."

After the attack on the village, Sakura had fallen unconscious for three days and when she finally woke up, she found herself in a hospital room with Naruto and Sai and machines attached to her. Almost immediately after she woke up; Tsunade appeared to give her an examination to make sure she was healthy. Then she hit Sakura on her head and scolded her for being reckless and going to the front lines when she wasn't supposed to. That went on for nearly an hour. So an entire week went by, with the three members of Team Kakashi in the hospital.

"Like you're one to talk." Sakura grumbled, resting her elbow on her knee. "You snuck out early just to join everyone."

"Yes, but I'm not the one that's pregnant. Lady Tsunade probably thinks you're going to do something like that again and injure yourself worse. Aren't you worried about a miscarriage?"

Sakura's blood ran cold; she put her hand on the bump of her stomach. "Don't say things like that." Sakura's face softened; she didn't think he was wrong though. If she had been hit in her stomach with that chakra tail from the Kyuubi; who knows what could've happened.

On the left of Sakura in another bed, was Naruto snoring soundly and mumbling in his sleep about Sakura feeding him. He was covered in bandages around his chest. His face had been healed at least, the same case for Sakura.

"When I think about it," Sakura snickered, looking back and forth from Sai to Naruto. "I'm kinda glad to be in here and in the same position as you two."

"I don't understand why you'd be glad to be in a hospital bed."

Sakura smiled, "It just….gives me this feeling of satisfaction."

"I still don't understand."

"You don't have to." Sakura taunted, looking over to her metal vessels on the small nightstand next to her bed.

Naruto yawned, stretching out his arms before wincing when he felt his injuries as he shifted to sit up. "Good morning."

"It's already passed twelve Naruto." Sakura deadpanned. Couldn't blame Naruto for sleeping most of the day away when there wasn't much for them to do in bed aside from read books.

The door to their hospital room slid open and Kakashi came in, he waved to the three. "Hey guys. How are you three?"

"We're all hospitalized." Sakura stated, laughing softly. "Back from your mission already?"

"Yes and from what I heard, I missed quite a bit."

Kakashi had been away during the invasion of the village, but after reporting in with Tsunade on the information he gathered about the Akatsuki; the Hokage told him everything that happened while he was away. From the monk Sora, possessing remnants of the Kyuubi's chakra and the battle that had taken place; the village nearly getting burned down by lightning; the corpses of the bordering villages and the masked girl who defeated them. A lot could happen in a week.

"I heard from Lady Tsunade about the rumors as well."

"What rumors?" asked Naruto.

"Is it the one about that cat masked girl?" asked Sai.

Sakura made no sign of movement or any abnormal reaction to the question.

Kakashi nodded in confirmation. "Yeah, she had an incredible power that completely wiped out the corpses resurrection technique."

"I didn't hear anything." Naruto said.

"From what I gather; everyone who saw her were curious as to who she was. There was a defensive barrier already set in place. That would mean the person came from inside the village." Sai told them.

"That was Lady Tsunade's assumption as well." Kakashi told them, "It could become a problem."

"Why?" asked Naruto. "She protected the village right, that makes her an ally and if she's from the village isn't that even better?"

"Not exactly; if there really is someone with that kind of power amongst us, it can cause a disturbance merely by the fact that they don't want their identity to be known. People will begin to come up with conspiracy theories. Which is why Lady Tsunade wants to keep this quiet from civilians."

Sakura internally grimaced and glanced at her metal vessels. She knew the kind of commotion that she would cause if she was discovered like that. Too much power; a power that other's couldn't understand would without a doubt raise suspicion and in her current predicament Sakura decided it was best to keep her identity hidden so as not to draw unnecessary attention.

"Oh by the way," Kakashi took on a much more causal tone, releasing the tension in the room. "Sakura; you're supposed to go for your check up now."

The pinkette groaned softly before moving to get herself out of bed, when Kakashi came over to give her a hand.

"Hey, I'm not immobile yet." Sakura joked, but took her sensei's hand to help her up.

"Just helping out." Kakashi said, smiling behind the mask.

* * *

When Sakura was barely out of the hall way leading to her hospital room; she was met with Asuma coming around the corner; he was carrying a basket full of apples and a candy bar tucked in.

"Asuma-sensei, hey." Sakura waved.

"Hey, what are you doing out of bed Sakura?" the ninja asked with concern in his voice.

"I'm just going to the maternity ward for a checkup; Lady Tsunade's ordered me to go at the end of every second week-no exceptions."

Asuma chuckled, patting the girls head. "I suppose this is her punishment for you going out into battle?"

Sakura nodded grudgingly, "Yeah; by the way are you here to visit someone?"

"You, Naruto and Sai actually." Asuma said, holding up the basket. "There are for you three; though the chocolate is for you; in case you're craving."

Sakura gave a big grin in return. "Thanks."

* * *

When Sakura reached the door to the room she was supposed to be in for her check-up, she heard voices and figured to wait a moment for the doctor to finish up before going in. However, Sakura couldn't help from hearing what was said.

"Congratulations again mommy; I'll see you back here in a few weeks alright."

Sakura paused, waiting as the door opened to reveal a raven haired, red-eyed women with pale skin. She was one of the female jonin, Hinata, Kiba and Shino's squad captain and (knowingly to all despite attempted discretion) Asuma's lover.

Kurenai stared at Sakura like a wide eyed doe. "Sakura…"

Pointing at Kurenai, gaping wide mouth, Sakura chocked out. "K-Kurenai-sensei….are-are you-

"Ah-Sakura, wait a minute this is um!" Kurenai held her hands out, waving them rapidly, there was a visible blush on her face. She looked down and then back to the pinkette. "Don't tell anyone yet okay?"

Sakura had to cover her mouth as she squealed in excitement, then taking both of Kurenai's hands in her own. "Congratulations!"

"Thank you." Kurenai smiled sheepishly. "Are you here for a check-up?"

Sakura nodded, pulling away; "Yes, Lady Tsunade's orders."

It was actually a little early for Sakura to be having another doctor's appointment and she was already looked at while unconscious and according to all of the results from the examinations; Sakura and her two unborn were perfectly well. This was just Tsunade's over protective precautions. She was still on edge about the fact that Sakura refused to give the identity of the father to anyone, on top of having disobeyed her orders to stay away from the battle field.

'Imagine the kind of reaction she would get if I told her I was the girl in the cat mask.'

* * *

It was another week before Naruto, Sakura and Sai were all finally released from the hospital. Naruto immediately went to resume his training and Sakura returned to the hospital to work. Naruto had mastered the first part of his training and was moving on to another. This time instead of splitting a leaf, he had to split a waterfall in half using his shadow clones. Doing this kind of training was rigorous though and required a lot of chakra; which was why Naruto was the only one eligible to even be able to do it.

Mebuki knocked on her daughter's door to her room, "Sakura, what are you doing in there? Something smells funny."

"I'm just making something for a friend." Sakura called back. She was sitting at a small table, on it and scattered around her were bottles of liquid and dry herbs. With Naruto training the way he was, Sakura figured he could use something to replenish himself. She was replicating one of her own recipes she had discovered while working for Sindria Company.

Sakura grinded the mix of herbs together into a powder, using a small stub and bowl, then poured it into a pot with boiling water. She didn't want to make it in the kitchen because without a doubt, her mother was going to have a fit if she did.

"This scent," Sakura inhaled deeply, taking in the herbal aroma that burned your nose and made your throat itch. Yet for her it was nostalgic, taking her back to her department in the company.

 _After wiping his mouth, Sinbad looked at Sakura with a playful and wicked smile which had the pinkette slowly back away to the other side of the table. Sinbad started running after her, the two were running around the table._

" _Stop it." Sakura laughed, coming around the corner of the table, Sinbad following in pursuit_

" _Only when you stop running."_

 _Sakura was on one side of the table then and Sinbad on the other, when they stopped._

" _Good, now stay there." Sinbad started coming around the table, when Sakura quickly dashed to the other side where Sinbad had been, their positions swapped._

" _Uh-uh, you're not coming anywhere near me with that look in your eyes."_

 _Sinbad smirked, "Well I can only do that when I'm near you."_

 _They started their routine again, Sakura and Sinbad running around the table of medicines and herbs. One attempting to catch while the other continued to evade._

 _Finally, realizing that she was playing cat and mouse with one of the most persistent, arrogant and determined men she had ever met, Sakura halted, holding up her hands in surrender as Sinbad charged towards her. "Okay-okay-okay. I apologize."_

" _Not good enough." Sinbad chimed, wrapping his arms tightly around the pinkette's waist. "You know what I want."_

 _Rolling her eyes, Sakura pushed up on the soles of her feet, throwing her arms over Sinbad's shoulders. "Guess I owe you this much."_

 _She gave a quick peck on his lips, but Sinbad held the back of her head to keep her in place and kiss her again, with fierce demand and wanton passion. When he did pull back, Sakura made sure to lean back and keep her head to the side. Flustered and short of breath._

" _Geez, when I said I owe you, I didn't think you were gonna charge interest." Sakura said jokingly, moving back to the table._

That had been one of their better memories, before the bitter ones. They were always playing along like that with each other and it made them happy. She wouldn't have moments like that anymore. It didn't matter that she was in control of her decisions; not when her feelings were beyond such simplicities.

* * *

Arriving at the training grounds where Naruto, Yamato and Kakashi were hung up at, she found that there had been a large water fall, extending far with a wooden bridge that held over a hundred shadow clones of Naruto. Naruto hadn't been satisfied working with only ten clones and the degree of his training since he felt the results were taking too long to appear.

Sakura could hear the echo of grunting, a tone dipped in frustration and she laughed, looking to the plane basket under her arm "He seems to be doing alright; perhaps I shouldn't bother making him my solider pills after all."

Sai came up behind Sakura from the forest, "I wouldn't be too sure about that."

"Sai, how long have you been there?"

"Since before you came."

"Sorry." Sakura stuck out her tongue sheepishly; her mind was elsewhere these days. "I'm a bit out of it lately. So rather announce yourself instead of waiting for me to notice."

"Okay." Sai nodded. "Anyways, that training is much harder than it looks. It's something only Naruto can do and it's different from normal training methods right?"

"Yeah." Sakura's face softened sadly.

Sai dug into the back of his pocket and brought out a small book. "At least; that's what this book says."

Sakura smiled then, "Oh really? Well aren't you a good study?"

"Sorry." Sai looked down, lowering the book as well. Something in his expression resembled disdain; he felt something uncomfortable settle in him when he thought back to reveal to Sakura he had only said what was written in a book instead of generating reason with his own mind.

"What's wrong?" Sakura asked, stepping closer to Sai.

"It's just…I don't know why I suddenly feel uncomfortable about telling you what I've read." Sai admitted. There was that discomforting shift again. "Even after I made that miscarriage comment at the hospital."

"It's okay; I told you to talk to me about these kinds of things. I won't judge." Sakura promised, holding up her hand splitting her fingers at her middle and ring. "I think you're starting to feel….self-conscious."

"I am?"

Sakura grinned widely, putting her hands behind her back she leaned forward. "I think it's cute."

Sai could feel his heart starting to beat at an abnormal pace at the statement Sakura made but he couldn't figure out why.

She placed the basket down on a tree stump a little ways from the three males. Sakura slipped a note into the basket as well. "I don't want to disturb him while his training."

"Yeah…."

* * *

Kakashi had seen Sakura and Sai leaving as well as the basket Sakura left for Naruto, full of solider pills. He gave it to Naruto after telling him to take a break; which he reluctantly did. While he was able to summon over a hundred shadow clones; he still couldn't feel much results from the learning methods and figure out how to split the water fall with wind chakra. Of course, Kakashi wasn't expecting this to happen in the blink of an eye and believed Naruto was making good progress-but the blonde thought something else.

Naruto was slumped forward, breathing heavily; every muscle in his body was tense and aching from spending hours in the same position and he was also physically drained from it. Yet he didn't want to stop. He was determined to get stronger. So that he would be able to finally bring Sasuke back.

He had been thinking this for a while now, since he found out about Sakura's pregnancy. He was going to have to do this alone and that was something that pushed him and kept him standing through this. Even though he was also pained.

Kakashi held up the basket in front of Naruto.

"What's that?"

"It's a gift from Sakura. There are solider pills and a note inside." Kakashi said, handing the boy the basket. It was filled to the top with brown balls. Naruto read the note inside.

 _ **These are my special Sakura solider pills. Take them and keep training hard!**_

 _ **YOU CAN DO IT.**_

 _ **Love Sakura**_

Naruto could feel his face growing hot, he quickly folded up the note before Kakashi could see it, placing it back in the basket. He took one of the pills, with an uncontrolled grin on his face as he tossed one into his mouth.

Naruto's eyes widened, he swallowed heavily. Looking back to the basket. "Wow these are great!"

"They are?" Kakashi asked, scratching his cheek. Usually solider pills were either flavorless or bitter.

"Yeah; it's sweet." Naruto said, taking another one. "I've got to thank Sakura for this."

"Maybe we should give some to Yamato then." Kakashi suggested, rubbing the back of his head. The poor anbu was obviously also being pushed to his limit from keeping the nine-tails under control.

"Hey!"

* * *

Another week went by; Naruto hadn't left the training grounds. Sakura and Sai still came by from time to time to check on him and Sakura continued to make her solider pills for him; with every basket she gave him a little note. Sakura had also passed into her three-almost four month pregnancy range and was really starting to show now. Her morning sickness and fatigue was starting to calm itself; which was something Sakura was relieved about.

Sakura continued with her work at the hospital and assisting Tsunade. That particular morning when Sakura came over to help her with some paper work, she heard a familiarly hostile toned voice on the other side, speaking with her master. Danzo.

"You still haven't figured out who was the culprit on that night, princess Tsunade?" Danzo asked.

"It is none of your concern, Danzo."

"When endangering the village's safety, it is." He retorted. "You should have interrogated the witnesses more thoroughly."

"There have been no further sightings; this person probably isn't even in the village anymore."

"You cannot be certain. That barrier was already up when the person appeared; it leads to believe that she was from the village."

Sakura decided to enter at the moment; she doubted her presence was hidden in the first place and it wouldn't look too morally appealing for her to be leaning against a door-as someone who has been on the other side of that door.

"Lady Tsunade; I have the reports."

The girl could feel the tension in the air when she stepped into the office and decided to keep a distance. Danzo had the appearance of a frail old man; he had shaggy black hair, and his right eye was bandaged, there was an x-shaped scar on his chin. He wore a dark grey robe covering his right arm-but Sakura knew it was concealing more than that. She also knew not to let his appearance fool her.

"Ah, princess Tsunade's apprentice. You were there during the invasion correct?"

"Yes." Sakura answered.

"Hey!" Tsunade called Danzo, but he kept his back turned to her.

"Did you see that cat masked figure that night then?" he asked.

Sakura shook her head, keeping her posture stiff and didn't dare avert her eyes or take a moment to glance at her master. Ja'far once told her that a way to pick up lies was through eye movement; people's tell was that they would look left when they were about to lie.

"No, I was ordered not to go out onto the front lines." Sakura stated calmly, although she was finding it a bit challenging when her djinn's voices were starting to buzz in her head. "I'm expecting and was supposed to be on leave from duty but I insisted on acting as part of the support."

"Did you-

"Enough Danzo!" Tsunade stood up from her desk, banging her palms on the wood, causing it to shake. "You have no right to interrogate my student!"

"I am merely asking her a few questions princess Tsunade."

"That counts as interrogation, get out." Tsunade ordered.

Danzo scoffed but none the less left, Sakura held her breath until she heard the door click closed and then walked forward to put the papers on Tsunade's desk.

"Is Danzo looking into that masked person I've heard them talking about?"

Tsunade nodded, sighing heavily as she slumped back into her chair. "He thinks that he can do whatever he wants. Those other old geezers are also on my case about that. The council wants her identity confirmed to decide whether she is an ally of the village."

"She destroyed the army of corpses didn't she?" Sakura asked.

"Yes, and that's the real concern. A power to wipe out a jutsu like that on top of thousands of bodies is a cause for worry to them."

"What would happen if you found out the identity of this person?" Sakura asked, hiding her caution and by overlapping her tone with curiosity.

"She'll be thoroughly interrogated."

" _You're not going to tell her are you?" Stolas asked._

Sakura mentally scoffed at the question. 'No way.'

* * *

The matter of Sakura's second persona wasn't the only topic amongst the ninja's in Konoha. That same day, Tsunade had sent a team out in search of two Akatsuki that were reported in the Fire country. Amongst the ninja deployed to track them down included Ino, Shikamaru and Choji. In a way it still frustrated Sakura that she was unable to do anything while everyone hunted the Akatsuki but she knew that right now she only had one obligation.

Ensure her children's birth and safety into this world.

* * *

That night Sakura returned home; carrying bag of ingredients she needed to make more food pills for Naruto. She was about to switch on the light but then drew her back, moving to the sliding door, she rolled up the blinds and pushed the door open to let in the wind and the light from a crescent moon. Sakura stood still for a moment, allowing the cool air to wash over her before moving to sit on her bed. She reached for the picture on her night stand and held it in her hands. The team seven photo.

From right to left, there was a twelve year old Naruto, his arms crossed as he glared at the person across from him; Sasuke. As usual, the boy was scowling at the camera and Kakashi was in the middle with his hands on both of their heads and right in the middle of the three was a grinning pinkette with closed eyes.

" _That is you and your friends?" asked Stolas_

"Yeah." Sakura spoke softly, her eyes down cast. "We weren't a perfect team and we really struggled to pull through but in the end…it was one of the happiest times of my life."

Sakura wiped a tear that fell down her cheek, she looked down at her ever-growing belly and then to the bag of ingredients on the table in the middle of her room. "I said I was going to change my world but now…."

" _Do no lose hope my king," Beleth said_

" _That's right; you merely have to be patient." Orias said. "We're here to help you change your world. Do not forsake us."_

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

Sakura stared at herself in the mirror, she was dressed in all black from her top to skirt but that wasn't enough to hide her protruding stomach. No matter how slimming the color may be; but it wasn't the reason for her wearing these clothes she was going to the funeral of Asuma Sarutobi. He had been killed while on a mission encountering and battling two of the Akatsuki members.

 _Sakura was just sitting in her room, eating her weight in chocolate covered strawberries dunked in peanut-butter and reading through some files for Tsunade when she heard a knock at her sliding door and went to open it, seeing Ino standing there. Sakura immediately knew that something was wrong just by the look in her eyes._

" _Ino?"_

" _He's dead…." Ino muttered._

" _What?" Sakura asked, putting her hands on her friend's shoulders._

" _Asuma-sensei!"_

 _The blonde then broke down, sobbing into the pinkette's chest while Sakura just held her closely. Nearly pushing Sakura over as she leaned down over the pinkette slightly awkward on account of Sakura's stomach and cried._

* * *

It was cloudy that day, during the funeral rain threatening to pour but didn't dare; as if not to mask the tears that were falling for those who stood in front of the grave stone marked Asuma Sarutobi. When Sakura went home, the sadness of the village was still strong in the air. She lied on her bed, starring up at the ceiling blankly. Every one of Asuma's comrades had been there at the funeral. It was a big group too. There wasn't much said though when everyone came to pay their respects and then left without much conversation.

'Life's, really so fleeting.'

Sakura put a hand on her stomach again, thinking of Kurenai. She was pregnant with Asuma's child but Sakura had a feeling that Kurenai wasn't going to be alone in this, not with Shikamaru and the rest of Asuma's team members. That was reassuring.

But something thoroughly bothered Sakura when she wondered what Kurenai's child will endure without a father and it set a new flame of determination within her, as the weight of her own situation all fell on top of Sakura. She was going to have to do this alone, without a father in her children's lives. There was definitely no way for her to know the kind of consequences that would come with this exclusion, but Sakura made a promise to herself then and there.

"I'll protect you no matter what and I'll always take care of you both."

* * *

Kakuzu and Hidan; those were the two Akatsuki members that Team Asuma had battled against in which Asuma lost his life. However, despite the tragic loss, Shikamaru, Ino and Choji didn't wallow for very long and went back out to track down the Akatsuki members while they were still in the country. They were assisted this time by Kakashi. Tsunade had called Sakura in that day and told her to inform Naruto that if he wanted to be a part of that mission as well; he had twenty four hours to master his new technique. Despite how slim the chances seemed of that happening, Naruto did it in that amount of time and was sent out with Sai and Yamato. They all returned that day victorious and that was another two members of the Akatsuki defeated. Although no one really came out unscathed. Having pushed themselves to their limits.

'I wonder though, how much closer are they to completing their goal?' Sakura thought.

..

..

..

..

..

..

* * *

The past six months were more than eventful, with Naruto mastering his new technique, everyone getting missions revolving around the Akatsuki and Orochimaru while Sakura had to unfortunately sit quietly by; it was especially hard to hear about the missions where her medical jutsu was needed. The Akatsuki were also growing their collection of Bijuu's.

After her fifth month, Sakura was finding it difficult to walk. The experience of carrying a child was harder than she anticipated, despite knowing all of the upcoming symptoms, it was another matter to experience it. Her cravings had her crawling out of bed in the middle of the night just to go to the store; luckily for her; it would only be a few short months before it would all be over.

Sakura knocked on Naruto's apartment door, waiting for him to open. She leaned against the railing, feeling as if he knees were about to cave in from all the extra weight.

Naruto opened the door, holding a cup of instant ramen. "Sakura, todays an off day right? Why are you…?

"Lady Tsunade's called on all of us." Sakura said, "You should get ready so we can go."

"Sure…" Naruto trailed turning around, "Come on in."

When Sakura got inside of Naruto's small, single room apartment, she saw that his entire place was completely filthy. There was no better way to put it.

"Naruto, you're living in a pigsty." Sakura deadpanned. There were dirty dishes in the sink, half-finished bowels of ramen on the floor, packets all over the floor, there were also garbage bags everywhere.

Naruto gave a sheepish laugh, rubbing the back of his head. Before, Sakura would have definitely clobbered him for being this untidy, instead she just took to comments and nothing more. He didn't know if he should have been relieved or disheartened at this mellow Sakura. "Sorry about that. You can just take a seat somewhere, I'll try not to be too long."

When Naruto left to take a shower, Sakura got up and started cleaning up, starting with the kitchen. Sakura did the dishes and packed them in the rack. Sakura then started gathering up all of the empty ramen cups on the table and threw them into a black bag.

" _Calm yourself my king, you shouldn't be doing housework." Beleth said._

" _That's right, it's strenuous." Stated Stolas._

" _And this isn't your house." Sitri and Gaap pointed._

'I just can't take sitting here and waiting in this filth.' Sakura replied as she determinedly wiped down the kitchen table, at least this section of the place was clean. She had recently developed this overwhelming urge to just clean every mess she saw; her parents had gone through the trouble of making sure that the house was spotless just so that Sakura wouldn't get up late at night and do late night spring cleaning.

Just then Naruto came back out, zipping up his orange jacket. He stopped when he saw Sakura cleaning his house.

"Hey Sakura, what are you doing?"

"Cleaning." Sakura stated. "I don't know how you can live in this mess, you remind of-

Sakura slapped her hand over her mouth, realizing she was about to mention Sinbad her comparison of Naruto to Sinbad. The violet haired boy didn't really know how to keep a place either, she was always organizing his office.

"Of who?"

"Never mind." Sakura shook her head, straightening up from the table she was leaning on. She rubbed her back, wincing. "Let's just go."

* * *

Tsunade was not happy at Sakura and Naruto's tardiness and she made it very clear when they came in. She was behind her desk, with Shizune on one side and Jiraiya standing on the other side.

"What took you two so long!?"

Sakura and Naruto gave nervous smiles, "Sorry."

"Naruto decided to sleep in on his day off," Sakura said.

The white haired male look at Sakura's obviously pregnant stomach with wide eyes. "Wow, Sakura how far along are you?"

"Just a little past seven months." Sakura admitted, scratching her cheek.

"Hey pervy-sage, when did you get back?" Naruto asked.

Naruto and Jiraiya got to talking and the small talk went to Naruto's new Jutsu which almost lead to the two males leaving the office. Before Tsunade and Sakura called them back.

"And, what did you want to talk to us about Lady Tsunade?" Sakura asked respectfully. She was sitting own in a chair now right in front of Tsunade's desk.

Tsunade crossed her arms and looked away from the two for a moment, Naruto asked her what was wrong.

"Well….there's certain information that's being spread throughout the region." Tsunade told them. "Orochimaru is dead…It seems Sasuke Uchiha killed him."

Sakura and Naruto gaped at the news. Orochimaru was a powerful former Hidden Leaf ninja that experimented illegally on people and with forbidden jutsu; including one that supposedly made a person immortal. It was the reason he sought after Sasuke; in order to keep living Orochimaru needed a vessel to reserve himself and Sasuke was his next victim. So to hear that he was dead was both a relief and shock.

"Are you sure…?" asked Naruto, still awestruck.

"There's no mistake about it. I heard it from a reliable source." Jiraiya replied.

Sakura felt tears of relief gather in the corner of her eyes; if Orochimaru was dead then that meant Sasuke was…

'He's safe.' Sakura felt a bit lighter now.

Naruto grinned, "Of course there's no way he'd get killed by a guy like Orochimaru! So that means Sasuke will be coming back to the Hidden Leaf right?"

Sakura stopped in her celebration and looked at Naruto who was still beaming. It looked like he had forgotten in his moment of happiness why Sasuke left and sought out Orochimaru in the first place. It wasn't to become his vessel; it was to become stronger; so that he could exact revenge on his brother Itachi Uchiha for murdering their clan.

"That doesn't seem to be the case…" Jiraiya said grimly.

"I though as much." Sakura murmured. "Sasuke is still perusing Itachi to kill him."

Naruto frowned, "Well then let's go. Operation 'track the Akatsuki' is still a go right?" he asked Tsunade.

"Yes." Tsunade nodded.

"If we hunt down that Akatsuki member first we'll definitely run into Sasuke eventually." Naruto said strongly. "Itachi Uchiha."

* * *

Two squads were assembled, the first consisted of Naruto, Sai, Kakashi and Yamato and the second was Kiba, Shin, Hinata and Akamaru. They were the ones assigned on the mission to track down and capture Itachi Uchiha.

This was cause for concern and it only got worse as the threat of the Akatsuki was looming over them like a storm cloud, growing larger by the day. It was only after one more incident, that they realized just how close the storm was.

Sakura leaned against the comfortable floor chair in her room, her feet in socks warming against an electric heater. It was raining today and felt especially cold for Sakura. While doing so, she was folding a few baby vests.

A couple of weeks ago, Sakura and Kurenai were surprised with a baby shower; it was their friends who set it up; chunin and Jonin alike; Tsunade, Shizune, Tenten, Hinata, Anko and Ino were all there and the women were showered with baby gifts. Sakura also went shopping for a few baby essentials with her mother because she didn't think she would feel for doing anymore shopping when she was this far into her pregnancy.

Sakura looked out to the balcony, the rain was pouring down heavily now and the wind had picked up, rattling shutters and probably blowing off loose roof panels.

It was only two days since Naruto and the rest of her teammates went off with Team eight on a mission and Sakura couldn't ease her worries due to goal of this particular mission. They were going to track down Itachi Uchiha and attempt to capture him; it was a not a comforting thought.

 _Sakura let out a small shriek when Yunan removed his staff from above her head, it was like a weight had started to pile on her shoulders and finally became too much because she fell to her knees, trembling with wide eyes. Sakura could barely keep herself up, as her arms threatened to give in, but she had this overwhelming feeling of nausea and was worried she might regurgitate whatever was left in her stomach. She couldn't even breathe properly anymore, overwhelmed with what little she saw and even more with what she heard. Yunan had used his magic to show her what he has seen and what he had heard. Everything that he knew, about her world. Yunan had clearly been around for a long time-Sakura was certain of this from what she had seen. He knew; what she was certain had been a sealed passed, the moments that shaped history in her world and she-she couldn't fathom them. What she now knew…_

" _I'm sorry." Yunan walked towards Sakura, he crouched down and started rubbing her back. "I didn't want to show you all of this but-but if you really are going to stay here; you need to know and really understand. You can't decide while ignorant Sakura, not after all you've done to get back home."_

 _Sakura was still trying to regulate her breathing, she felt her eyes burning but she still tried to hold back her tears, because she wasn't sure if she could stop them once they began._

" _T-T-T-That," Sakura inhaled deeply, she couldn't think of anything to respond to what she had just seen and heard._

" _I know," Yunan said, still rubbing the pinkettes back. "Your world's history, their truths, it's not easy to comprehend."_

Yunan was right about that statement; she couldn't believe the things she had heard and seen. What he showed her. She didn't want any of it to be true but it was and being back in this world was the reality she wanted to change for the better. She had to bite her tongue so many times when she considered telling everyone the truth about the Uchiha massacre and the real reason behind it, however she knew she couldn't do that. On top of that, there was another fact no one knew about the Uchiha Massacre.

'That Itachi Uchiha, did not carry out the massacre alone…'

Narrowing her eyes, Sakura stood up slowly from the floor and went to her closet; sifting through her clothes until she pulled out a rain coat.

* * *

" _Where are we my king?" asked Beleth._

The stone room felt warm, there was no window and the source of light was the two torches that Sakura had lit after entering. There was mimicking patterns painted on the left and right walls as you entered the room but in the middle one, there was two red and white fans-the Uchiha crest and in the middle of it was a stone tablet on standing upright on the ground.

The Naka Shrine; a shrine in Konoha that belonged to the Uchiha clan. It was a special place, more so than any outsider would ever realize. That was until Yunan gave Sakura the knowledge about the secret room beneath one of the tatami mats in the main hall. She wouldn't even have been able to get into the main hall because of the stone slab sealing it; had she not been provided with the knowledge from Yunan about the hand signs to unlock it in the first place. All to keep secret, a stone monument; which couldn't be read with the naked eye.

'Itachi told Sasuke about this place, on that night of the massacre.' Sakura stared at the table, unable to make out anything. 'I wanted to know what would be worth hiding so desperately but I can't even read this…'

Her djinns were silent for a few minutes as Sakura continued to sit and simply look at the stone tablet, both hands folded over her belly. She wanted to leave, yet there was that pull again, that feeling when she entered this place, a similar feeling to when she was guided by the rukh. She wanted to look closer in this world to. Remove her naivety completely, so that she would be able to change her world.

Sakura sighed softly disappointed, 'There is no way I can see it. I don't have any way to see the truth right in front of me."

" _Perhaps you do." Orias interrupted._

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked softly.

" _Yes Orias, I don't understand."_

" _Me neither." Sitri said after Beleth._

" _Our third eye." Orias elaborated to the djinn._

" _Oh!" exclaimed Gaap._

" _Yes I see!" Stolas said._

" _A very interesting hypothesis." Beleth said._

"Okay, what are you guys getting at?" Sakura asked slightly worried now.

" _Well-_

 _Beleth cut Orias off. "Wait a moment. Is it really wise to be allowing her to do this right now?"_

" _Mmm, perhaps…" Orias said. "Maybe we should wait-_

"Hold up, hold up. What exactly are you all talking about?"

" _A djinn's third eye." Orias began, "It is not just there for speculation or aesthetics. It provides a kind of 'sixth sense' in a ways. It allows us to see through the deceptions of the world. Perhaps it could do the same for you."_

Sakura touched her forehead, "Third eye….but for that I'd have to-

" _Use your djinn equip." Orias finished._

" _But we do not know what that might do to you right now." Stolas added carefully. "I wouldn't recommend it."_

Sakura leaned forward, touching the stone tablet. "I need to know…Beleth."

When Sakura transformed into her djinn equip, she found that it had actually gone and adjusted to her current body state instead of remaining the same as the last time she used it.

Sakura raised her head, to look at the stone tablet and the encryption which she could not make out before, was actually becoming clear to her but what she saw; it was truly shocking. Coinciding with the knowledge Yunan had passed on to her and filling in the blanks that had been left open and gaping in her mind. Although, the procedure was not easy.

Sakura couldn't even bring herself to blink, her body seemed to tense up and become a solid as stone, unmoving and unfeeling. Shallow breaths were coming out of Sakura's mouth as her heart pounded with what she read….

 _"Seeking stability, one god was divided into yin and yang, these opposing two acting together obtain all things in creation."_

 _.._

 _.._

 _.._

 _.._

 _.._

 _.._

 _.._

 _"When someone who possesses the power of Saṃsāra approaches the moon, an eye will open that is reflected on the moon to grant the eternal dream._

For what felt like hours, Sakura remained in that shrine, in that room, continuously going through what she was reading, over and over again. What she discovered was something that went further than what she knew but now everything had been pieced together for her completely. All this knowledge was like the broken pieces of a puzzle that needed to be put together and now that she has placed the final piece in; she could see the full picture-and it terrified her.

Then she couldn't take standing anymore, her body suddenly feeling like it was viciously struck with fatigue. Sakura released her djinn equip then and fell forward, as far as she could and held her stomach. Moving lower, there was a continuous shifting pain, expanding and then contracting.

"Ah!"

" _What is wrong!?" asked Beleth_

Sakura felt something trailing down her leg, like a thick fluid and she knew what was happening. Her djinns voices were drowned out by the ever growing pain. Sakura pushed herself to stand and began to make her way back towards the exit of the room.

'Too soon.'

Panting heavily, Sakura started to drag herself towards the staircase, her hand constantly on the flat surface of the wall as her only support. She pulled herself up, each step was like a canyon as she pushed passed her pain that was yet to grow.

She could hear her djinn's frantic voices calling out in alarm but she couldn't respond as there was only one thought she had.

'I have to get out of here'

* * *

It wasn't unheard of or untypical especially in the circumstance of multiple babies and yet Sakura did not see this coming. Going into labor when she was barely in her seventh month and in one of the worst possible locations. Luckily for her; she managed to make it out of the shrine and then dragged herself through the village on her way to the hospital. There weren't many people out that day because of the rain so the street she was walking through was cleared. The sole of Sakura's feet had this incredible burning sensation with each step she took and that traveled to her legs, her torso and to the rest of her body.

" _My king, you cannot walk all the way there!" Stolas exclaimed._

Sakura didn't respond but it was obvious she didn't have a choice in this matter but realistically she didn't think she would be making it at this pace and she knew that time was not on her side right now.

As she looked up through a blurry vision due to the heavy rain that poured down her face, Sakura could make out something-or rather someone around the corner but moving in the opposite direction of her.

"Hel-

Several steps were taken before Sakura's body couldn't take the strain any longer and she felt the gravel road scrape her knees beneath the fabric of her clothing, then becoming soaked from the rain, sending cold waves through her body.

"Ahhhhhh!" Sakura screamed as she felt another contraction.

Jiraiya was making his way through the village but stopped when he heard a short shriek echo through the streets and turned around; shocked to see a small splotch of pink in the distance and found Sakura lying on the ground with her arms over her stomach, crying in pain.

'Oh no!'

He wasted no time in picking up the pinkette and rushing to the hospital as well as sending a message to Tsunade about her apprentice's condition.

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH" Sakura screamed her throat raw; the pain was so bad she couldn't even pass out which she desperately desired at this point. When Sakura reached the hospital with Jiraiya she could hardy hear him yelling orders at the nurse and calling for a doctor as she was taken to a room, removed of her soaked clothing and placed in a hospital gown-which was not easy on account of the fight she had put up while struggling with this pain.

Sweat dripping down her forehead as her chest rose and fell quickly with heavy pants. Her body felt like it was being ripped apart. Her hands clutched the sheet; she was in so much pain she was this close to sending something flying through a wall. Sakura's entire body had nearly become numb to any other sensation around her, including the feeling of her pants being removed and being slipped into a gown. Her body being propped up on pillows.

She was writhing in a hospital bed as the nurses rushed around, tending to her. She found it slightly hilarious at this role reversal she had undergone, but she didn't have time to dwell on it as another wave of pain hit her. The contractions getting closer together and despite her state, she was still well aware of her situation.

"AAAAAAHHHH"

"Where is she?!"

The door flew open; Shizune and Tsunade entered the room quickly; she rushed towards the pinkette. Tsunade stared barking orders at everyone.

"Sakura, how are you feeling?" Shizune asked, on the verge of taking the pinkette's hand but then withdrawing as she recalled the super-human strength she possessed.

"I-I can't take it! Make this…make it stop!" Sakura called out, despite wanting to cry she couldn't bring herself to form tears. It was as if her body was distracted dealing with the physical pain.

"She wasn't due for another two months," Tsunade hissed, putting on some plastic gloves.

"She's already a bit further than expected; Jiraiya-sama said she appeared to have tried to walk here on her own before he found her lying in the street." One of the nurses said.

"SHE WHAT?" Shouted Shizune and Tsunade.

While Sakura was usually the one standing in the labor room wearing the rubber gloves; she never really understood the painful screams and reactions that the women had during labor and childbirth; but right now as she felt her blood rushing and the excruciation of what seemed to be her insides twisting into unspeakable shapes; Sakura had spent most of her labor hours screaming apologies in her mind.

"I CAN SEE THE HEAD!"

"Sakura take deep breaths; it's almost time. You can do this" Tsunade said.

Sakura sobbed, "I can't do this Lady Tsunade-I can't!"

"Yes you can, come on Sakura!" Tsunade's eyes hardened, "On the count of three get ready to push. One….two….three…..PUSH."

"NNNNNNGH" she groaned panting; every time she heard someone tell her to breathe, she felt like retaliating with a chakra coated punch just to give them a sliver of the pain she felt and tell them to breathe then!

On top of that she wouldn't be in this situation if it wasn't for a certain someone! Her pain converted to anger.

"DAMMIT STUPID SI-AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH" Sakura screamed again, forgetting that she was about to curse Sinbad's name.

Tsunade studied the pinkette; her face contorted in pain as she lied on the bed; her stomach swelled. She was very close now.

"Okay Sakura, you know the drill. Again on the count of three, push." Tsunade said, peaking upward form the pinkette's raised legs. "One, two three, push!"

Sakura screamed as she felt herself expanding to a length she thought wasn't possible for her body. For what felt like an eternity to Sakura, that was the cycle of her first child birth. Pushing when told and feeling like she had been struck in the gut with bat.

"Okay, last push for the first." Sakura was already breathing so hard, it was like air didn't even have time to gather in her lungs before she was releasing it again.

"Shizune, get ready to take the first one for examination…" Tsunade had her hands held out carefully.

"Right." Shizune said standing beside Tsunade.

"Here we go Sakura; one, two three…Push."

Sakura clenched her jaw so tight she thought it might break and despite how tight her moth was shut, the scream still managed to echo through the room. Sakura was barely about to feel the temporary relief when her first born left her body because there was still another following right after. She could hear the distinct loud crying though; but that was a good sign.

"Now it's time for the second one." Tsunade said firmly. "Are you ready Sakura?"

"HELL NO." The pinkette cried as the pain started up on the same level as the previous.

"Last one come on Sakura you can do this." Right now no matter how much encouragement and praise she was getting from her teacher, Sakura wasn't even placing it in her memory right now. Everything; including what she read on that stone tablet became nothing more than a speck of dust blowing in the wind of her pain.

"Come on Sakura, you're almost there." Tsunade said after the fifth push; the baby was nearly out now but this one seemed to be putting up a bit of a fight. Almost like it didn't want to leave.

Sakura swallowed heavily, secretly hoping that she was going to just pass out already. All of her medical training becoming null and void as she rested as the patient.

"Here we go…" Tsunade said, listening to the pinkettes rapid breathing. "One, two…three-PUSH."

"AAAAAAAHHH" Sakura screamed again, causing everyone to jump back a bit.

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

It was only after her breathing started to regulate that Sakura began taking note of everything around her again. She could heard the nurses, Tsunade and Shizune's voices now. Both women came to her, their arms holding a wrapped blanket.

Tsunade walked over to her apprentice with tears in her eyes. "Sakura...you worked hard."

Shizune smiled, already crying. "Congratulations. You have a healthy boy and girl."

Sakura's eyes watered as she looked at her children' two new born babies wrapped in bundles. They were carefully placed on her chest. Her heart clenched when she saw the small splotch of purple hair on their heads.

"They're perfect,"

She saw their eyes begin to open, Sakura saw that her son had small green eyes and her daughter had deep golden colored eyes and she felt her heart stop.

'Sinbad….'

Sakura began crying; sobbing loudly as she thought back to the past of the man she had cherished so dearly. She could already see him, in them.

There was a sharp knock on the door before Jiraiya peeked into the room, "Is it safe? Things have been quiet in here for a while."

Sakura smiled, nodding a little vigorous before Jiraiya entered. He peered onto the bed where Sakura laid, holding her children for the first time.

"I sent a message to your parents, they'll be here soon." Jiraiya told Sakura.

"Thank you." The pinkette murmured, her throat sore from the screaming.

Jiraiya looked over the children and then back to Sakura, "So, have you thought of any names yet?"

"Yes…" Sakura replied almost immediately, she looked down at the infants and spoke in a near whisper, going from boy to girl.

"Badr…..and Esra."

 **There you have it everyone. I hope that you enjoyed this chapter and I promise that you will not have to wait long for the next chapter because it will be up within the next forty eight hours. In the meantime you can go to check out the art for this story and-**

 **REVIEW!**


	12. Present: Realization

**Hey everyone, well I said the next chapter was going to be up soon and here it is. READY AND ENJOY**

* * *

Esra could not believe that after all this time she had finally found one of her family members; but there was something wrong here; how did her brother end up with the Fog Troupe? It also didn't look like their mother was anywhere around because she definitely would not have approved of the situation.

"Badr, what the….?"

"Hey mini monster, you're crushing my spleen." Badr said shoving his sister off of him causing her to bounce back on the ground. Badr stood up, dusting off his clothing.

Ja'far and Morgiana were still being subdued by the black fog mist, but they were able to see everything transitioning around them in a very peculiar way. All at once, Aladdin found the friend he was looking for and Esra found her twin brother she had been separated from; yet the circumstances resulted in a completely different reaction for this reunion.

"Aladdin, it's been a while." Alibaba greeted, holding up his hand. His expression remaining indifferent. "Would you please recall Ugo? He's scaring my friends."

Ja'far protested against that but Aladdin listened to Alibaba's wishes and recalled the djinn into the flute once more; he sunk into the opening of the flute as if he was visible air.

Aladdin then looked up at his friend, surrounded by the Fog Troupe members. Despite the intimidating crowd, he was only concerned with one person.

"Hey Alibaba. I came all the way here to see you. I have so much to tell you. Don't you remember our promise?" Aladdin smiled then, thinking back to their time in the dungeon together. "We said we'd see the world together."

"Badr, what the heck are you doing? Why are you with these guys?" Esra asked. When she got no response from her brother; the combination of her conflicting emotions and growing frustrations brought on by the environment in which she had finally been reunited with her twin; caused tears to form in the corner of her eyes.

"Answer me!"

Badr did reply that time, "Esra, why aren't you with mom?"

The younger twin blinked up at her brother in disbelief. "I haven't seen mom, aunt Ino, or aunt Hinata since the dungeon! I've been looking for you all since then. Haven't you?"

"No, I haven't." Badr responded distantly.

"What the heck is wrong with you!?" Esra yelled standing up. "Mom's probably going out of her mind looking for us. Don't you even care?"

Again, she was met with stony silence. This was so unlike her brother….

Alibaba watched Aladdin, regarding him with a cold stare as he walked towards him. Aladdin held out his hand for him to take but Alibaba walked right passed him. Tapping Aladdin on his shoulder; yet it was enough to effectively shatter something.

"I'm sorry. I can't keep that promise."

There was a heavy sound of multiple footsteps coming straight towards the mansion.

"The army's here!"

Cassim looked at Alibaba telling him that they had to leave.

"Badr!" Alibaba called, drawing his dagger from its sheath. He held it so that the blade pointed up. The blade had a visible eight-pointed star on it, giving indication of a djinn metal vessel.

"Right!"

Badr held out his hands, tucking his elbows towards his chest, his eyes closed as he began chanting.

"Spirit of djinn of purity and light,"

"Spirit of propriety and discipline,"

" **I command thee and thine, receive my magoi and use your great power to bring my will to life!"**

Two bright lights emitted from the two boy's, Alibaba's knife as one source of a bright orange light with a great heat and the other from Badr's hand; a white light.

"Come forth Amon!"

"Vapula!"

In a mix of a blinding bright white light and the heat of flames, the Fog Troupe vanished as soon as the heat and light did. Leaving behind nothing; but two heartbroken children.

* * *

It was shocking to say the least.

For Sinbad to hear that there was not only one-but two dungeon capturers in the Fog Troupe and that they both happened to have a connection to the group of children that helped him on the road to Balbadd. One was Aladdin's friend Alibaba and the other was Esra's older brother. This had been reported to him by Ja'far because right now neither Aladdin nor Esra were very interested in giving any explanation of the previous night and had receded to their room.

"Things sure have gotten complicated," sighed Sinbad "To think that there would be two dungeon captures in that group and they're connected to Aladdin and Esra."

Ja'far nodded, before gasping when he realized there was something he had failed to inform. "I almost forgot to mention. Esra's brother….he's her twin."

Sinbad nearly choked on the air he inhaled, "Wait-wait, twin? As in they're the same age?"

"Yes, I believe that breaks your record as the youngest dungeon conqueror." Ja'far said, although he knew that was not the primary concern of the matter.

Sinbad threw his head back, first it was Esra's unnatural strength and now it was her brother's. "Who are these kids?"

"That's something I've been wondering too." Ja'far grimaced "I believe Esra said her brother's name was Badr. That's all we know."

Sinbad frowned, those names….

"Badr and Esra huh? What a coincidence."

"What's the matter Sin?" asked Ja'far.

"It's just those names…." Sinbad grinned shaking his head. "No, it's nothing."

Yet why did he feel something shifting inside of him that caused him to feel that this wasn't nothing; it was merely a sliver but it could grow to something greater later if not terminated.

"Sin, I'm noticing something about those kids too so if you figured out something just say it." Ja'far also wanted to tell Sinbad about witnessing Esra's abilities that were so familiar to him but with things as they were right now, there was no room for conspiracy theories.

Sinbad shook his head, "It's nothing; just that Badr and Esra were the names of my parents. I just thought it was interesting that those siblings also have those names."

And now Ja'far felt as if he had been given yet another piece of a puzzle he was yet to place but even though he hadn't started putting the pieces together; he already felt as though he would not like the picture.

While outside caught in their own thoughts, Sinbad and Ja'far were all too preoccupied to notice Morgiana looking around and sniffing the air.

* * *

The hide out was cold; that's the first thing Badr thought when he arrived here at the Fog Troupes lodging; it was a run-down abandoned building in a remote part of Balbadd. But after staying there a month, he had gotten use to this cold. This constant hair rising feeling of being on edge all the time for fear of an attack. At first he questioned himself, joining a group that was opposing the government and were labelled criminals for their actions. Yet he was able to rationalise that this was the right thing, especially after seeing the living conditions of majority of the people in this country and what he had discovered upon meeting Alibaba and Cassim.

 _Badr walked along the empty, dark streets of Balbadd. After seeing the country from a distain hill, he decided to take a look, in the slim hopes that the might be able to find everyone and had been searching throughout the day with no results. He made his way through the more desolate areas; the buildings were run down and obviously neglected and the streets were littered. It was nothing like Konoha. His village was always so lively and the people were driven; especially after the Fourth Shinobi war. After getting through that; the village was continuously expanding and developing greatly. Naruto always bragged to him and his sister and that when he became Hokage he was going to make the village even greater and the fond way Sakura spoke of Naruto; her teammate and the man labelled Konoha's hero; he believed it._

 _He heard some noise coming down he ally way, there were several voices, some were harsh, loud and rough and others were shrieking, desperate, he could also hear sobbing, several cries._

" _ **Be strong my king." Vapula told him.**_

' _Yeah, easier said than done.'_

 _Turning the corner, Badr saw two large men cornering a middle aged women and a young girl with similar features resembling her-probably her daughter, barely thirteen._

" _Come on Aliya, I never knew you to turn down an offer before."_

 _The women glared up at one of the men hatefully, "Because I needed the money."_

" _What and now you don't?" the other man asked sneering at her._

" _That's right, I don't!" she snapped, cradling her daughter to her chest. "The Fog Troupe has been taking care of us and everyone else in this country! I don't need your money!"_

" _Just because those thieves are giving you hand outs now doesn't mean it's gonna last."_

" _Yeah eventually the governments gonna capture them."_

 _Glaring up, the women spat harshly at them, despite missing the mere gestured was enough to ignite the flame of their anger._

 _Stepping forward, one of the men grabbed the women's daughter; her kicking and screams of protests and cries for help were not enough to sway him to let go. The second man went over to the mother when she tried to reach for her daughter; roughly grabbing her arms to pull her down to the ground._

" _Fine then, if you don't want to give it; I guess we'll just have to take it from someone else." The man holding the younger female cackled harshly._

" _NO" The women shrieked in a desperate cry. "DON'T TOUCH HER-PLEASE LET HER GO."_

" _Too late." Tugging harshly; the young girl's clothes tattered clothes started to fall from her shoulders and the laughter of the men echoed around; before it suddenly stopped._

 _The man who had been holding the young girl groaned harshly, clutching the back of his head, falling over from the dull pain._

" _What the fuck?" he hissed turning around harshly. The four people saw the young boy standing at the end of the ally, glaring towards them._

" _That's enough; why don't you pigs go back to your pen!? "Badr snapped harshly. Feeling nothing but disgust for these men._

" _What you say?!"_

" _You little brat!" Shoving the two women to the side, drawing out their swords, both men started running towards Badr. He waited until they pulled back their swords and swung it down before he leapt into the air._

 _When he came down, he delivered a powerful drop kick to one of the men's head, effectively knocking him out with a single blow. He might not have had the same chakra control as Esra, but he was still skilled in taijutsu and could hold his own against opponents with that particular kind of strength-He had to with the women in his family._

 _Grabbing the sword that had fallen with the first man, Badr picked it up to quickly block the sword swinging straight for his head. The blades clashed creating a spark of warning; Badr used chakra to root himself to the ground as the man pressed down on him._

" _ **My king, allow me to assist you."**_

'How exactly?' Badr asked, he didn't really think he needed the help although he could hear a smile in Vapula's voice.

" _ **Simply say these words…."**_

" _Spirit of purity and light!" Badr felt something unusual happen; his body felt like it had been engulfed with an unusual heat and his will began to manifest itself in the light shining through the locket, leading up to his hands. It was so bright, it lit up nearly the entire area; Badr could feel that his coordination was still off since this was his first time using a djinn's metal vessel. There was a sharp light that emerged, shooting straight towards the man, knocking him back far and straight through the wall of one of the buildings._

 _The light faded._

" _Wow….." Badr exhaled softly; he didn't think that it would be this…._

" _ **This is the power that you now possess; the power of a king."**_

 _Badr looked down at his hands, "Cool."_

 _Badr looked back at the two women who were cowering in the corner, holding each other. He walked over to them._

" _Are you okay?"_

" _Y-yes." The mother said, tears of relief running down her face._

" _Thank you." The daughter said._

 _Badr flashed a charming smile, one that always indicated he was going to stop hearts in a few years._

" _You're welcome, onee-chan!" Badr held out his hands towards the two women. "Would you allow me to escort you both back to your home?"_

 _Smiling, they were about to accept the young boy's hands when more footsteps wiped away Badr's smile, his eyes flashing sharply, his muscles tensed as he got into a fighting stance. Several people gathered around._

" _I saw the light coming from here!"_

 _Looking back at the entrance of the alley way, Badr found his path blocked by several dozen men, all gathered together. Thinking that these men were affiliated with the two from before; he held his fighting stance. But then the daughter spoke up._

" _It's the Fog Troupe!"_

 _She sounded excited._

 _Two boys in their late teens stepped forwards, their faces illuminated only in the slivers of moonlight that shone down._

" _What happened?" One of them asked; he was a young man of average height with blond hair and golden eyes._

" _What caused that bright light?" asked the other boy beside him; he was slightly taller than his blonde companion, with black dreadlocks styled in a half-ponytail, and golden eyes. The two next to each other appeared to be in contrast with one another._

" _It was this boy," The daughter spoke, "He saved me and my mother from these men."_

 _The two looked around at the one man lying on the ground unconscious and the other who had been flung into the wall on the other side of the alley._

" _This little kid, took down these men?" the dark haired boy asked in disbelief; his tone pricked Badr as very insulting._

" _Hey right here!" Badr waved angrily._

 _The blonde then regarded Badr, narrowing his eyes. He started coming towards him. "Did you really do this?"_

 _Badr held out his hand in warning, but then Vapula's metal vessel which was the locket around his neck started reacting, the eight pointed start shone brightly; reacting._

" _Hey," when the boy reached down towards Badr, there was a bright light that shone from the sword strapped to his waist and he looked down at the dagger the boy was holding. A star appeared on the sheath as well._

" _No way!" The blonde gasped in disbelief._

" _What the heck!?" Badr pulled back, jumping far_ _ **.**_

" _ **That power is….."**_

" _Who are you?" Alibaba and Badr asked at the same time. Although neither answered after as they waited for the other to respond._

 _Badr decided that he was drawing a bit too much attention to himself and to take his leave. It didn't' seem like the women were afraid of these men; more like they were in awe of them and addressed them with familiarity and without fear so he concluded they would be safe._

 _Pushing chakra to his feet, Badr sprung onto one of the walls and kicked off to get to the next, going higher until he was up on the roof before he took off. He could hear the footsteps down below following after him as he leapt from one roof to the next. Once he came to the end of the block, Badr had to jump off the houses, but the men persisted in chasing after him._

' _What's with these guys?' Badr wondered._

" _ **My king, would you like to have another demonstration of your power?" Vapula asked.**_

' _Sure, why not.'_

 _Although Badr had felt in that last attack he didn't quite have a handle on the strange energy that was emitted because whatever it was, felt different from chakra. But at least he was able to draw it out. It was almost easier than with chakra were spirit and physical energy had to be gathered together. This was just one source of energy; pure and raw._

 _Badr stopped running, ending up in the middle of the road; the group of men ran over to him; they then started to surround him in a close circuit. The two boys from before walked through them easily and made it to the front._

" _You don't have to run, we just want to talk to you." The blonde said._

 _Badr held out his hands, the light gathered in his palms, he felt the energy surging through his body and towards his palms before they shot out in short beams towards them. Everyone ducked out of the way._

 _Then the blonde drew his dagger, holding it up. "Kid, calm down…"_

" _Ana'r shafarat!" The words left Badr's lips without him truly registering what he was saying. It was as if the knowledge of the use of the djinn metal vessel was coming to him on instinct. Now in Badr's hands formed beams of light once again, except this time they took a shape and form of two Katana._

 _Golden eyes narrowed in on the new weapons, holding the dagger to his chest he spoke. "If that's how you want to play it…..Amon!"_

 _Flames erupted from the dagger; surrounding its master and taking the shape and form of a beast. Then the flames extended further towards Badr and the boy moved back in order to avoid getting caught in the fire. However he barely saw the silhouette before the blonde boy emerged out of the flames unscathed straight towards him. His dagger raised, he struck his blade on Badr's hard._

 _Badr stumbled at the force but managed to regain his footing for the next attack; he went to counter with one of his blades. Despite the advantage of two; it was clear that both had training of extreme calibre and it was showing._

 _Their blades clashed but neither would yield._

" _ **Well if it isn't Amon," Vapula said "This should be interesting; my king against another candidate."**_

 _Badr wasn't able to fully register what was being said because he was still fighting but his djinn seemed awfully amused at the predicament._

 _They continued to clash several more times before an unexpected move was made that ended it. Badr was being pushed down, holding his two blades in a cross to defend himself form the dagger, his skin burned from the intense heat of the flames but didn't really touch him. Then he pushed chakra to his feet to give him extra momentum, causing the blonde to fall back._

 _Badr smirked, 'Now's my chance!'_

 _Launching forward, Badr was about to attack when the blonde who appeared to have left an opening while he recovered moved quickly, not a second too early or late as he leaned back, bending his knees and back to decrease his height. Badr ended up flying right passed him from above, their eyes met for a second before they were on opposite ends again._

 _Badr didn't even feel the tug on his neck before his katana vanished._

" _What the…_

 _The blonde boy pointed his dagger at Badr; he extended his other arm to the side holding the silver chain that was attached to the locket and Badr's djinn metal vessel._

" _Hey! Give that back!"_

" _Don't." The blonde warned before his partner walked over to him and took the locket. "Now maybe you'll answer our questions. Who are you?"_

 _Badr glared back at him, refusing to speak._

" _I'm Alibaba," the blonde introduced himself finally._

 _Again, Badr did not reply; his eyes were focused on Alibaba's partner who was fiddling with the locket, he then opened it, exposing the pictures of his sister and mother. For a while all he did was stare at it really hard; his eyes narrowed and frowning deeply. Then they widened as if reaching some kind of epiphany._

" _No way…."_

" _What is it Cassim?"_

 _Instead of a reply, Cassim held up his hand and looked back to Badr. "Hey kid, who is the women with the pink hair?"_

" _That's my mom." Badr replied, snappishly._

 _Cassim frowned again, looking back down. "Hey Alibaba; let's bring him to the hide out."_

" _I'm not going anywhere with you guys!" Badr hissed._

 _Cassim held out the locket, tauntingly. "You want this back don't you?"_

 _Badr was brought to the hide out of the group of thieves known as the Fog Troupe. It was an abandoned building-or so it was meant to appear to be. However further in this was the headquarters of the most wanted group in Balbadd._

 _An oil lamp burned dimly lighting the small airy room, there was a cold breeze that caused Badr to bristle. He was sitting on one side of an old wooden table while Alibaba and Cassim sat on the other. Observing the young boy closely._

" _Well, what do you want with me?" Badr asked. He just wanted to get his locket back and leave so that he could start searching for his sister, mother and her friends._

" _Yeah, what's going on Cassim?" Alibaba asked. It was strange that he made this sudden decision to bring the boy back with them. They were only really perusing him because he was behaving so oddly and that caused an unnecessary chase-which now that Alibaba thought back to it; he probably shouldn't have provoked either._

 _Cassim tossed the open locket to Alibaba, "Take a close look at the women in that picture."_

 _Alibaba looked down, the frame was small, capturing two pictures in the lockets compartments. The pictures only went from the shoulders to head. He saw the pinkette with short hair and emerald green eyes and Alibaba frowned._

" _She looks kinda familiar…." Alibaba said._

" _Remember that time we were playing in the junk yard and our flag was stolen?" Cassim hinted._

 _Alibaba's eyes widened; the memories coming back to him all at once and Cassim didn't need Alibaba to confirm his memory because the expression on his face spoke volumes._

" _Hey kid, what's your name?" Cassim asked._

" _Badr." The boy replied, curious about what all the fuss was about his locket. It didn't seem like they were very interested in the fact that it was his metal vessel._

" _You said this was your mom. Is her name Sakura?"_

 _Badr gasped before standing up, slamming his hands on the table causing it to harshly rattle and also shake slightly._

" _Do you know her?" There was a desperate edge to his voice. He thought that perhaps they have seen his mother._

" _Yeah," Cassim nodded. "We met her when we were kids."_

 _Badr frowned. "You know my mom from years ago?"_

 _Sakura did tell them that she had come to this world before; she was the one who knew what they were going to awaken to once they left the dungeon. It wouldn't be too farfetched to believe that she had interacted with people from this world as well but the whole concept still hadn't completely wrapped around his head from before._

" _Yes, when we were kids." Cassim said; recalling the day Sakura had come and freed him and his sister from their father's grasp. Her face was permanently etched into his memory and even though she was older now; he could still tell it was her from her features. There was also that feeling he had when he looked in her eyes. He had never felt that kind of relief and warmth before._

" _Sakura…" Alibaba seemed to recall the girl who had one day shown up in the slums while they were playing. Although he didn't remember every detail of his childhood, he still remembered Sakura well enough. She had stolen their flag for their game and played with them; after which she had given all of the children that day a sack of gold that made things a little easier for them._

" _So where is your mom?" asked Cassim._

 _Badr looked down, "I don't know; I got separated from her and my sister. I'm not sure where they are."_

 _Cassim looked at Alibaba; their eyes met in a way it was as if they were communicating. Alibaba leaned over the table and put the locket down in front of Badr._

" _Here."_

 _Badr took it back without question and slipped it around his neck; reminding himself to be more cautious of these sort of things._

" _Hey Badr, do you have any idea how you're going to find your mom?" asked Cassim._

" _Not really." Badr replied honestly; he hadn't thought much about it. Only to find them even if he didn't' know how. "I didn't even know where I was when I woke up."_

" _Well…how about until you figure something out; you stay here with us and join the fog Troupe?" Cassim offered._

 _Badr looked up at the two questioningly, "What?"_

" _What's the problem?" asked Cassim, "You don't know where your mom is right? Well we can try and help you find her in Balbadd."_

" _Why would you guys do that?"_

" _Let's just say, we owe your mom a debt." Cassim stated. "And you would make a great addition."_

Badr wasn't too sure about joining the group mainly because of the fact they were thieves and declared criminals of the state and by agreeing to stay with them, he would be joining the ranks. Although things were explained to him. The difficult situation in Balbadd, the monarchy destroying the country not only financially. The current king was considered a tyrant who had no regard for his people nor concern for them. He had caused corruption amongst the people and they were only trying to help those people in need.

After a while, Badr began to adapt to the dynamic of the Fog Troupe. None of the people were anything as he perceived them to be. They were generally ordinary people, looking to make things a little easier for one another. It seemed noble. Despite their methods to reach their goals.

Badr was hoping that somehow he would be able to meet up with his mother and sister, but when he finally did meet with Esra again; he had already seen too much corruption in this country to be able to turn away and he knew that's what Esra would want. What's more; he did not want to involve her.

'Though it looks like she's involved herself anyway.' Badr thought sighing as he walked across the hallway on his way to see Alibaba and talk to him about what had happened last night. He had also run into someone he knew and he wanted to discuss what he was going to do next before he made any decision to leave the Fog Troupe.

'It really seemed to be bother him.' Badr knocked on Alibaba's door but he got no response.

"Alibaba, are you sleeping-

Opening the door, Badr froze at the sight of Alibaba; being cradled in the arms of a red-headed girl-the same one who appeared last night and before Badr could recover and react; she leapt forward, throwing Alibaba on her shoulder and delivered a painful punch to his stomach. It was powerful enough to make him feel like his insides had just been turned to mush. He was then grabbed around his waist and pulled up to her side.

"W-What the hell are you-

"I'll be taking the both of you to Aladdin and Esra right now."

* * *

Esra and Aladdin sat silently in the room together; Aladdin was sitting near the window under the full moons light and Esra was on the bed, starring up at the canopy. Standing up, Aladdin looked out of the window, pulling out his flute he looked at it as if he were staring at another person.

"A lot has happened to us this past year. I'm sure a lot has happened to Alibaba too." Aladdin said, smiling. He looked over to the bed. "Hey Esra."

The girl sat up, looking over at Aladdin, her expression blank but she still responded. "Yes?"

"Have you been thinking about what you're going to do now?"

Catching onto the impression that Aladdin was attempting to give behind his smile; she did the same. Trying to chase the pain and somehow ignore the void growing in her chest at being turned away by her own brother.

"Not really; I don't want to leave without Badr, or….maybe I can go and look for a mom and bring her back here to get Badr. What about you?"

Aladdin held up his flute, "Well Ugo wants me to collect the metal vessels. But maybe I'll also go with Mor to the Dark Continent. You could come with too-we can help you search for you mom!"

"Yeah!" Esra said, appearing as if she was delved in excitement and yet despite being able to give these reactions she still felt hollow.

"I want to learn a lot from mister Sinbad too! There's so much to do."

On the first step Aladdin made to move though, he ended up sitting again, stilling smiling. "Huh? I don't seem to have any strength."

Esra stared at the boy. No tears in his eyes and yet she could tell just by looking at them that he was truly hurt.

"I was so excited too…" Aladdin's shoulders went lax.

Esra went silent again, she looked at her hands trembling. Biting her bottom lip.

The curtain of silence fell over the once again. Aladdin and Esra both repeated the words of the people they had been searching so desperately for. Although this didn't last too long as the silence caused them to hear everything from the outside and that included the screams.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH"

Then two figures were sent flying straight through the window, passed Aladdin and roughly into the well-decorated walls. Esra and Aladdin looked over at the two people who ended up crashing into their rooms and saw Alibaba and Badr in strange positions from which they landed. Alibaba was upside down leaning against a pillar that was keeping him upright and Badr had done server rolls before landing bent with his knees almost touching his ears.

"What the heck!?" Esra jumped off the bed, her foot getting caught in the blankets causing her to slip and fall with a loud thud on the bed.

"Oomph!"

* * *

Morgiana had tracked Badr and Alibaba's scents' to the Fog Troupe's hide out where she broke in; found them and forcefully brought them back to the hotel. Morgiana told Alibaba and Badr that they owed Aladdin and Era an explanation; a proper one as to why they had done what they did that night and she was not giving them much of a choice in the matter.

Aladdin and Alibaba sat in front of one another, with smiles on their faces but they weren't looking one another in the eye. Badr and Esra on the other hand weren't hiding the tension between them.

Badr chuckled nervously, looking back at his sister. "Hey mini-monster, you seem to be doing okay."

Esra clenched her jaw before she went up to her brother, punching him in his chest causing him to drop to his knees.

"YOU IDIOT WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?" She raved

"What's the big idea!?" Badr wheezed, glaring up at his twin. He stood up again, knocking his forehead harshly with Era's but the younger twin didn't back down or cringe.

"I could ask you the same question!" she sneered. "Mom is going to kill you when she finds out you joined a group of thieves!"

"Like she's gonna be happy to hear you've been hunting them!" Badr shot back.

Aladdin, Alibaba and Morgiana just stared at the twins as they argued with one another.

Esra sighed, stepping away from her brother, rubbing the red spot on her forehead. "Stupid; you better have an explanation or I'm gonna clobber you before mom gets the chance to."

"Geez, don't' be such a drag." Badr threw his arms behind his head.

Silence overcame the five once again and this time it was Aladdin and Alibaba who broke it.

"Y-You look well Aladdin."

Aladdin held the blank smile, "You too."

Alibaba rubbed the back of his head. "It's been half a year…you've changed."

"Y-Yeah, you too."

Morgiana then chided in when the tension, silence and awkward atmosphere was repaired for a return.

"Please cut the small talk."

Everyone looked back to the Fanalis girl who was often quiet. Morgiana frowned, clenching her fists.

"Do you two even know what's happening in this country because of the Fog Troupe?" she said, angrily. "Domestic insurrections have caused trade to come to a halt, the government abandoned its citizens and formally, free, innocent people whose only crime was poverty."

"Morgiana's right." Esra chided, glaring back at Badr. "You better explain this before I beat the crap out of you."

Badr held out his arm gesturing towards Esra before turning to Alibaba, "See; I told you she was a mini monster!"

Aladdin smiled, moving his hand in a pat-down motion signing for everyone to calm down. "Come on; Mor, Esra. I understand why you're angry, but this the first time we're all together like this. It's a beautiful night; let's talk about happier things."

The five glanced around one another, searching for consent and confirmation to Aladdin's suggestion. They gathered in a circle at the window with the moonlight shining on all of them and together; at first there was that thick tension but Aladdin started telling them about his travels throughout the year after he, Alibaba and Morgiana had been separated. How he woke up in an unknown place after the dungeon and met people of a clan called the Kouga; he specified some of the people he had met, including another dungeon capturer who was also a princess.

"Wow, you did all that? It sounds like a great adventure." Said Alibaba.

"I can't believe you guys were also separated after the dungeon just like we were." Badr said, leaning back on his hands; he looked over to Esra, sitting with the knees tucked under her chin.

"So you really have no clue where mom is right now?"

Esra shook her head. "Morgiana and I were traveling together before we bumped into Aladdin and made our way over here. I have no idea where she is. Right now we're just here to capture the Fog Troupe."

"Yeah, but we had no idea that you'd be with them though." Aladdin's eyes softened, "But I'm sure you both have your reasons. So could you please tell us?"  
Badr and Alibaba were silent, neither protesting nor consenting to the request; despite the silence there was no longer the wall of tension that stopped them from reaching each other.

"You go first." Badr told Alibaba as he rested elbow on his knee to rest his chin. He knew that his explanation was going to invoke a lot of questions and with that they wouldn't even be able to get to Alibaba's explanation.

"To do that, first I need to tell you my friend's story, his names Cassim."

Cassim was the real leader of the Fog Troupe, but he was also Alibaba's childhood friend. The two had lived in the slums back then, along with Cassim's younger sister Mariam. Alibaba lived with his mother Anise and Cassim and Mariam lived with their abusive, alcoholic father. After their father had disappeared from the slums, Cassim and Mariam were adopted by his mother. Unfortunately, their happy family dynamic didn't last very long because Alibaba's mother had passed on from illness. It was just the three of them and for a while it was fine; they had taken to working in order to survive but then Cassim had apparently falling into a bad group and started stealing. Alibaba had offered to help Cassim but his friend had turned him away from the offer.

"You don't need to dirty your hands, is what he told me." Alibaba said, gripping the fabric of his pants tightly. "He acted strange that day, he even asked me if we were friends and I told him we definitely were. He just smiled and said…..

" _Those who abandon their mission is scum but those who abandon their friends are worse than scum."_

Esra frowned, "Wait; isn't that what mom-

Badr cut her off, already knowing what his sister wanted to know but that was going to lead them to skipping chapters in the story. "We'll get to that."

"The one day, the king of Balbadd came to the slums and told me that I was his son and that I was going to live in the palace with him. I didn't know what to think." Alibaba's face remained passive, but his eyes were flashing many emotions as he relieved the memory. When he told Cassim about it; the boy had practically chased him out of the slums, their final moment together had them tackling and beating each other. That's when his life had changed completely; he had harsh lessons every day and after three years he had nearly forgotten about his previous life in the slums. However one day he had the desire to return to the slums, only to find that there was nothing to return to.

"That's when I finally met Cassim again," Alibaba had a distant smile on his face and then it vanished as if it was never there to begin with. "Why did I have to run into him again!? If only I hadn't snuck out of the palace…."

Their reunion hadn't been the problem according to Alibaba, it had been pleasant and decent. They went out for a drink together even but when Alibaba returned Cassim had sent someone to follow him and discover the secret tunnel Alibaba had used to get out of the palace and Cassim had used it to break in. Alibaba had been with his father when that happened, the king was in a dire state and he wanted Alibaba to take over the role of king and Alibaba didn't give him an answer. Then he heard a commotion outside and went to go and see, only to discover Cassim with his group, breaking into the treasury and robbing it. He had been knocked out shortly after that. After he woke up, Cassim was gone, his father passed and he decided to flee Balbadd.

"Then I met you Aladdin." Alibaba looked up to the blue haired boy.

* * *

On the other side of the room, outside in the hall kneeling down with a cup to their ears was Sinbad and Ja'far, listening in on the conversation between the youngsters. Masrur, having better hearing than his two companions was able to hear everything that was being said in the other room.

"I see. He's the illegitimate child of the late king."

Ja'far frowned, "Sin, eavesdropping is in such bad taste."

Sinbad simply held his finger to his lips and silencing Ja'far before resuming to listen in on the conversation. "Should you really be talking anyway, you've eavesdropped on me plenty of times."

"That was years go and only when I thought your life might be in danger." Ja'far stated dryly. Sinbad was dating Sakura at that time and when they fought it was clear who was going to come back unscathed.

* * *

Esra then chided, "Okay, I know I'm new to the party but so far all I hear is that your so called friend, drove you out of the slums and when you met after three years, decided to use you to rob your father and drive you out of the country….And you're still working with him!?"

"Yes, if he betrayed you, why would you join the Fog Troupe with him?" Morgiana asked

Alibaba did not respond straight away; "After we captured Amon's dungeon; I wanted to take responsibility for my previous mistake so I returned to Balbadd. But what I was found was the country on the verge of ruin, after the king passed away his eldest Ahbmad ascended. Cassim's group of thieves had grown and I thought that he was the reason the country was thrown into chaos but then I discovered that the one at fault was the government. So I joined the Fog Troupe in order to change that."

Looking up, there was a new light in Alibaba's eyes, a strong expression on his face. "In order to gain support of the people we began to share the spoils from our raid. When the time is right, I will go and reveal my identity to Ahbmad; I am going to fix this!"

Esra gave a heavy exhale, then turned to her brother, "Okay so that's his reason; now would you care to give us your?"

Badr looked up at Esra, scoffing. "You know you really should consider showing a bit more sympathy, I mean Alibaba's not the only illegitimate child in this room."

"I hope that's not the beginning of your justification for joining." Esra hissed. "Because if it is, you've lost."

"No." Badr looked up, with a serious expression on his face. Badr told Esra, Morgiana and Aladdin what happened to him after he left the dungeon and how he ended up crossing paths with Badr. Up until the point when he was taken to the Fog Troupe's hide out and the incident with the locket.

"When they took me to the hideout, Cassim said that he and Alibaba met mom before and that they're willing to help us find her."

Esra appeared even more confused than when they first started this explanation; he pointed to Alibaba. "You're saying you knew mom? How can that be?"

Alibaba nodded, rubbing the back of his neck. "She really helped us out in the past and when Cassim and I saw the picture; we knew it was her. Her names Sakura right?"

Sinbad, Ja'far and Masrur stopped all their subtle movements, ceasing any form of fidgeting. Masrur moved his body so his back no longer faced the wall with the loud pattern, pressing his ear against it. Sinbad and Ja'far had also leaned closer into the ends of the cups, ignoring the way their skin sunk into the object which would probably leave a light mark after.

None of them said anything yet; in case they ended up missing anything. Although the mention of the name belonging to the person who they had rationalized they would never see again. Sinbad had explained Sakura's situation to everyone after she left; including the part about her belonging to another world and her desire to return.

"Remember what mom told us in the dungeon?" Badr told his sister, holding up his finger and pointing as if he was pointing to the memory itself. "She told us she's been to this world before,"

"Wait what are you guys talking about?" asked Aladdin. "Been to this world?"

A short moment of silence fell over as the twins looked at one another, silently conversing about whether or not they should reveal it but in the end nodded in consent and turned back to the three.

"We're not exactly from this world…." Esra began and Badr followed after. Explaining to the group their entire story.

"We live in a village called Konoha, the Hidden Leaf village…." Esra trailed.

"It was our birthday and….

Badr and Esra told their friends about how they ended up with a mirror that shattered and brought them to this world; transferring them, their mother and two of her friends into a dungeon that Badr captured. Their mother explained to them that she had come to this world before. They also mentioned Gyokuen-although they did not know who she was exactly but definitely someone their mother was familiar with.

"So who exactly is your mom?" asked Aladdin.

"Her names Sakura Haruno; she's a medical ninja of the Hidden Leaf village and also a dungeon capturer." Esra said, her arms crossed.

* * *

Sinbad slid down the wall, landing with his feet spread apart and his head resting against the back of the wall. He didn't feel like breathing right now, his stomach churning in a way it never has before. Ja'far was still listening to the group but that was more likely because he couldn't find the strength to move.

"There's no way," Sinbad said softly, repeating it as if he was trying to convince himself. The only thing he was able to really contemplate in that moment was that Sakura was here and not the fact that the twins in the room were claiming to be hers.

Shortly after, there was a loud noise heard and a tremor that shook the hotel.

* * *

" _You know my daughter?" Sakura asked Leila and Sahsa; now holding an urgent expression with a gleam of hope shining brightly in her eyes._

 _Leila nodded firmly, speaking in a manner void of doubt. "Yes, she was travelling with us for the past month. She went to Balbadd with two friends Morgiana and Aladdin; they're also looking for someone."_

Sakura was looking out into the distance on top of a high hill at the city of Balbadd. From where she stood, there didn't seem to be any change but she knew that was not the case. She heard about the corruption of this country now since the former king died. Rashid had said that he was worried about leaving this country in the hands of his sons but Sakura never would have imagined it to get this out of hand. She remembered how Balbadd was such a wonderful and lively country, flourishing.

"She has to be here." Sakura said, hope in her eyes.

 **And we hereby come to the end of this chapter. I hope you enjoyed reading this and I hope you'll look forward to the next chapter I have already started writing so hopefully by the end of the this week I can post.**

 **DON'T FORGET TO REIVEW.**


	13. Present: Reunion

**HELLO EVERYONE**

 **The next chapter is finally up and ready. Now before you start reading I want you to know that this is another extra-long chapter, so pace yourself because it's honestly going to be a while before I'll be able to update again since I have so much school work to do. I literally only have a few hours to finish The Plague before I have to write an essay but I was too excited about updating this chapter.**

 **HOPE YOU ENJOY.**

* * *

After discovering that Alibaba and Badr had been kidnapped, Cassim gathered all of the members of the Fog Troupe and took them to one of the most prestigious hotels in Balbadd. The reason Cassim knew to look here was on the basis of what his source within the government had given him about someone who was staying in the hotel and who was coming after the Fog Troupe. Cassim was standing in front of Alibaba and everyone else after breaking through their room's wall; this was only a few of his men; the others were already inside of the hotel.

Everyone stood up, watching Cassim and his men cautiously. Badr and Alibaba stepped forward while the rest remained guarded.

"Sorry for the wait." Cassim smiled.

Badr frowned, "Cassim?"

"Cassim what's going on? No one said anything about attacking the hotel!" Alibaba shouted.

"Don't be a fool." Cassim narrowed his eyes, holding ups his sword. "If we don't get them, they're going to get us!"

"What are you talking about?"

"I've received some information," Cassim had a dark expression on his face. "Sinbad is here, in this hotel!"

Cassim went over to Alibaba, grabbing him before pulling him back, he also looked over at Badr. "Come on; we've gotta go now!"

Badr paused, looking back at Esra who gave him a firm look, promising to chase after her brother if he dared take another step.

Morgiana was the first to move by attempted to strike Cassim and they ended up running out of the room, heading up a stair case. Esra, Badr, Morgiana and Aladdin followed after them, chasing them all the way up to the top of the hotel roof.

"What are you going to do Alibaba?" Morgiana asked when they finally reached the top. "They're still nothing but a group of thieves!"

There was a standoff; looking at the number of Fog Troupe members Aladdin, Morgiana and Esra would definitely have a problem fighting this many opponents. There was no chance for them to have a battle. The roofs floor cracked before pieces of it was flying along with several of the men as Sinbad, Masrur and Ja'far emerged from the hole in the hotels roof.

Cassim ordered his men to attack the new comers but Masrur stepped forward, slamming his feet to the ground, he propelled himself forward with such speed that the aftershock ended up scattering the members into the air like shreds of paper in the wind.

"Wow…" Morgiana and Esra said in awe. Both shared the sudden desire to learn that move.

"Who are you guys?" Cassim hissed, holding up his sword with promising threat.

Sinbad stood calmly with his arms folded across his chest. "Didn't you come here looking for me?"

Cassim's face hardened, his eyes glaring with hatred. "I see, you're Sinbad!"

The black fog coiled around the blade of Cassim's weapon, before it was thrown forward, wrapping around Sinbad. Cassim mockingly warned him that the more he struggled the tighter it would bind around him.

"Shouldn't we do something?" Esra asked, noticing that Ja'far and Masrur were simply standing there calmly.

"No need, he isn't known as the High King of the Seven Sea's for nothing."

Holding out his hands, Sinbad's magoi started to pour out and the black fog around him vanished, floating through the air like particles of dust. Cassim in a rage, ran towards him to strike with his sword but Masrur easily caught him and forced Cassim to the ground.

Esra elbowed Badr, "If you even think about jumping in, I'm going to clobber you."

Ja'far did a quick glance over to the twins as he walked towards Sinbad. Returning to the matter at hand.

Sinbad took a sword and held it out pointing towards Alibaba, "Now, once I capture you my work will be done here. Right Miracle Man Alibaba? Let's settle this as leaders. Feel free to use your weapon. Dungeon Capturer."

Esra could hear the fluttering again, looking closer at Sinbad she could dimly see the golden birds fluttering around him contently.

"Hey Esra," Badr tugged on Esra's dress, speaking in a low voice. "Do you see those birds around that guy too?"

"Yeah." Esra replied, keeping her eyes on Sinbad. She could see the rukh fluttering around him anxiously.

"Run Alibaba!" Cassim exclaimed.

Sinbad smirked. "You have that option as well. The Fog Troupe is doomed anyway. If you want to run, run. You're different from them. They're all people from the slums. But you're not, even if you pretend to be; you can't escape the fact that you're a prince."

Alibaba was only infuriated by Sinbad's words, if not also conflicted. "SHUT UP. I'M NOT DIFFERENT FROM THEM. THEY'RE ALL MY BROTHER'S AND SISTERS. DON'T MAKE FUN OF THE BONDS WE SHARE."

Drawing his metal vessel from its sheath, Alibaba pointed it directly at Sinbad and called on Amon; there soon was an incredible warmth that shielded everyone on that roof from the cold night air. Sinbad and Alibaba started to clash. With the flames dancing around them, a literal ring of fire acting as the stage for this fight. All eyes were on the two.

"Whoa." Esra exhaled softly.

"He's pretty good huh?" Badr didn't bother to hide the smug grin on his face.

Alibaba was combining his attacks with Amon's flames, swinging to strike and to launch the fires towards Sinbad, although the older male didn't seem the least bit fazed by any of it. Blocking each attack. When Alibaba finally managed to knock the sword out of Sinbad's hand and went in for the final strike, he realized had become too lax. Sinbad grabbed Alibaba's wrist; his flames started to recede without explanation but Alibaba did not have time to think about that when Sinbad delivered a powerful punch to his stomach.

"ALIBABA" Cassim screamed as the boy fell to the ground.

Sinbad looked back at him, "You still don't know how to use the powers of that djinn."

Something caught Sinbad's attention behind him, after he heard Esra's voice.

"BADR DON'T"

Side stepping, Sinbad had narrowly avoided the strike of another blade-one of light. Badr blurred past Sinbad, landing by Alibaba. He held up his weapons of light, in the forms of katana's. He had tried shifting them into other weapons and while discovering that he could shift the light into other forms; he could not hold them long enough to use.

Alibaba coughed heavily from having the wind knocked out of him, he shook as he opened his eyes to Badr. "Badr don't…."

'So this is her son…' Sinbad thought, looking into the boy's sharp emerald eyes. He had a flashing recollection of the pink haired girl; her emerald green eyes staring back at him; as if she was here. They so reminded him of hers; it was haunting.

It was painful.

Badr went to attack again and Sinbad moved, crouching down to grab his sword from before and rolling out of the way of the boys blades. Badr sprung back quickly enough; jumping high up before coming down and clashing blades with Sinbad. Raising his leg while still in the air, Badr went for a kick to Sinbad's head but the man reeled back in time.

'Something's different.' Sinbad thought as he clashed with Badr. The boy's attacks were fierce but not uncoordinated. They were swift and barely gave chance for countering. He was also stronger than he actually appeared; as if he had been trained to fight.

Badr jumped back; keeping a tight grip on his swords, he held out his hands in front of him, forming a hand sign. Two images appeared beside Badr, first they were blurred but then they formed into the young boy. Clones.

Sinbad took a step back, 'What?'

Ja'far gasped, staring with wide eyes as he witnessed yet another technique that he only knew one person to possess. "That's….

Masrur nodded, already knowing what Ja'far wanted to say. Sakura had this sort of ability as well and although none of them really understood it; they knew it was only something she could really do. This just further confirmed these children's identities but there was one lingering thought.

A question that was yet to be answered.

It hadn't been easy. Figuring out how to use chakra and the energy known as magoi; but Badr had been training those past few weeks working on handling the two energies at the same time instead of his full body djinn equip like Vapula had suggested. He thought that it would make his attacks even more powerful, using chakra to enhance his physical prowess and speed while using his djinn metal vessel's weapons. It took a rigorous amount of work and focus; like learning to use your left hand when you were right handed and then using both simultaneously to write different materials, but he had figured out. Even after Vapula said she didn't think it was possible because if the energies clashed they probably wouldn't work, but Badr managed to keep them separate, flowing through his body without them crossing.

As the clones and Badr ran towards Sinbad, the purple haired man held up a defensive position. The first clone went to attack, but he wasn't a shadow clone, so when he went to strike the minute his kick hit the blade, he vanished into a puff of smoke, then the next clone went feigning to punch Sinbad and again the man stumbled back; all to the edge of the building. His wavering gave Badr the opportunity to move to strike, jumping into the air he stared to come down; emerging from the smoke left by the clones.

Esra rushed over to Badr and Sinbad, moving to stand in front of Sinbad. She held out both of her hands up as her brother came down with his blades. Instead of hitting her though, Badr's attacked stopped by a small appearance of a light shield, barely visible around Esra's hands. It was small but strong enough to block the metal vessels attack.

Sinbad's eyes widened in disbelief, "A borg?!"

"CHA BADR CUT IT OUT." Esra yelled, pushing up, the impact caused Badr to skid across the roof of the building landing near Alibaba.

Sinbad was blinking rapidly in disbelief. 'She's definitely reminds me of Sakura, but that attack…does this mean she's a-no that shouldn't be possible.'

"I'm starting to see the resemblance." Masrur said and Ja'far just kept quiet, although he was silently noting the similarities. Of course; it wasn't just their mother's traits he was noting.

Ja'far swallowed heavily as he looked between Badr, Esra and Sinbad. 'It can't be.'

Esra went over to Badr, holding out her hand and he begrudgingly took it allowing his younger twin to pull him back up. She checked to make sure she hadn't injured him, or accidently made any open wounds.

"I warned you stupid, nii-nii."

"What's going to happen now?" Badr asked.

"What do you think happens to criminals?" Esra asked back, folding her arms. Badr turned back to Sinbad as he spoke to Cassim.

Cassim then screamed out, "Dammit, why did you have to show up here? This has nothing to do with Sindria. If it weren't for you, we'd still be undefeated!"

"If you didn't have someone on the inside leaking information to you, you wouldn't be able to do anything." Sinbad stated just as boldly after turning around to face Cassim. "Know your place you foolish weakling. You've involved people in a fight you cannot win."

Sinbad smile then holding out his arms. "But if you still desire to fight knowing all that there is only one thing for you to do. You must gain what you lack. In other words, let me join the Fog Troupe!"

Everyone was surprised by the Sindria king's declaration all of a sudden. It wasn't literally a few moments ago, he was aiming to capture all of them and now he wanted to join them?

"What the heck?" Esra frowned.

Even his subordinates were surprised; Ja'far was questioning his king's decision to join the Fog Troupe and fight against the government, especially when he had such a lax attitude about it.

"That makes no sense, you're supposed to defeat the Fog Troupe." Ja'far said. "You agreed to that with Ahbmad in order to reopen trade."

"But now I want to support the Fog Troupe." Sinbad stated like it was the most obvious thing.

"That's not what you said earlier!"

Badr and Esra were looking back and forth between Ja'far and Sinbad; it looked like the advisor was at his wits end with his leader because Sinbad had clearly made up his mind. He even managed to turn the tables on Ja'far to make him look like the bad guy.

"Rather than that moron of a king I want to help out these people who fight so desperately for the slums. I'm going to join and fight along with the Fog Troupe."

"What the heck?" Badr and Esra said together.

"This guy sure is strange." Badr stated.

"You have no idea." Esra sighed. She didn't even want to mention what kind of state Sinbad was in the first time, she Aladdin and Morgiana met him.

It was amazing how things had changed in that instant; at first neither Alibaba nor Cassim wanted Sinbad to join, believing it was some kind of hoax but Sinbad managed to move Alibaba enough to convince him to let him join. Instantly after he made a suggestion to confront the king of Balbadd the very next day; saying that Alibaba should no longer hide in the shadows of the Fog Troupe. In order to negotiate, using his identity as the prince of Balbadd to gain this leverage and hopefully find a solution to the corruption that plagued this country.

"This world is full of strange people." Badr said.

"Yea, no doubt." Esra sighed. "I'm really glad we're not from here."

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

Badr was looking around the wrecked hotel room nervously; he was sitting beside Esra but the girl was in complete contrast to him right now. Sitting motionless without any worry. That was mainly because she wasn't the one who attacked Sinbad just a few moments ago so being left with Sinbad and his subordinates in a room alone didn't make for the most relaxing atmosphere.

"Okay, why are we here?" Badr asked sharply.

"I wanted to talk to the two of your before tomorrow. Since I have a feeling this might be the only leisure time we'll have for a while. There are some matters we want to discuss." Sinbad said crossing his arms. Behind him was Ja'far and Masrur.

"Esra told me that she's been looking for you and your mother."

"Yeah, so what? It's not like this is any of your business."

Esra elbowed her brother roughly in his chest, ignoring the way he grunted in pain at the applied pressure before she turned back to the men. "Sorry; he's usually not this hostile. Of course that's before he become a criminal!"

Badr glared back at Esra, rubbing his chest. "Will you let it go?"

"You gonna tell that to mom while she throttles you?" Esra shot back, crossing her arms. "Because I think you'll be asking her to let you go."

Badr didn't reply.

"You know, I always thought you were going to end up a fugitive. I just didn't think it would happen this soon!"  
"Oh will you-

Sinbad quickly interjected before this could turn into a battle between siblings. He attempted to hide his discomfort from now knowing that these were the children of the girl he was in love with. "Anyway; I wanted to say that I already told Esra that I was going to help her find her mother."

"Why would you want to help?" Badr asked back.

That was when Sinbad fell silent, glancing back at Masrur and Ja'far who didn't look like they wanted to intervene right now.

"The thing is…" Sinbad exhaled. Knowing he needed to say less than what he desired. "I think I might know your mother."

Badr and Esra paused, "HUH?"

Before Badr and Esra could start spluttering questions on an explanation that would have had Sinbad scratching the back of his neck raw as he attempted to answer truthfully while sensitized, Ja'far spoke instead.

"Your display of abilities earlier; it's unique to only one person we've known." Ja'far said. "She was a companion of ours years ago. Her name was Sakura Haruno."

The sharp inhales from the twins confirmed their 'suspicions'; as no one really wanted to admit to eavesdropping on a private conversation. Especially with what had been revealed during it.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Esra spluttered in disbelief. "You were friends with our mom?"

Sinbad internally cringed, "Yeah…we were friends…."

The twins looked at one another, "Well mom did say she came here before and we already know Alibaba knew her so…."

"It makes sense I guess." Esra admitted before turning back to Sinbad and his subordinates. "Although mom didn't really mention anyone she knew here."

Sinbad leaned forward a little, his eyes hardening with interest. "What exactly did she tell you-regarding this world I mean."

Esra looked at Sinbad suspiciously and surprised. "So you know; we're not from this world?"

Sinbad nodded to Esra. "Yes, your mother told me a long time ago she came from another world. So you don't have to worry; you can give us full disclosure on the situation."

Badr and Esra explained the story to the three; from the point where they had been transferred via a mirror; the strange women that appeared before they were sent into a dungeon and then being split from Sakura, Ino and Hinata and each other for more than a month now.

"I see." Sinbad sighed, leaning against the table with his hand on his chin. It was apparent that Sakura didn't say much about being in this world. "You were all separated before leaving the dungeon."

They nodded.

"Don't worry I'll definitely help you two find your mother." Sinbad said, forcing a smile contradicting his actual feelings towards this situation; which was actually quite conflicted.

"Really!?" they asked together and Sinbad nodded.

"Of course,"

Badr and Esra smiled, "Thanks mister Sinbad." Said Badr

"What about getting us home; back to our world?" asked Esra.

Sinbad rubbed the back of his neck, "That might be a little harder, but I'll figure something out. I'm sure you want to get home; with you guys and your mom here your dad must be really worried huh?" Sinbad chided; ignoring the way Ja'far and Masrur turned to stone behind him. What's more they remembered when the twins mentioned that they were 'illegitimate' but it seemed that the fact slipped Sinbad's mind and now he was looking for an answer that was already revealed.

"Not even." Esra replied, resting her chin on top of her hand. "We actually don't have a father."

"Well we do have one but we never met him before." Badr chided glaring slightly at Esra who always seemed to make it sound as if their father was dead instead of missing in action.

"You don't know him huh?" Sinbad asked curiously and somewhat disturbed by the information.

Badr shrugged, "No one does. Mom always just says they broke up before she found out she was having us."

Again Esra elbowed Badr in the chest before moving to straighten herself in her seat and put on a flat smile. "This isn't really relevant though. All we want is to find our mom and then figure out a way to get back to our world. Two of mom's friends are in this world as well but we're not sure if they were separated. So we might have to search for them too….

Sinbad only appeared half conscious of what Esra was saying as his mind had started turning and twisting images and thoughts in his mind. Sakura had children, these were Sakura's children. Now that he knew that, Sinbad couldn't help but take in the characteristics and detail them back to the pinkette. Without a doubt, Esra reminded him plenty of her but Badr had her eyes and almost softer features. Then there was the matter of the traits that he just couldn't place as Sakura's; the traits that might belong to the twin's unknown father but Sinbad didn't even bother to note them because he felt something hot and painful build inside of his chest when he thought of what must be the other half of the twins.

Ja'far and Masrur glanced at one another before looking back to the twins. Ja'far then chided. "If I may. Badr, Esra, how old you?"

"Ten." They replied together.

"Ha…." Ja'far inhaled smacking his hands over his face, unable to keep the façade, exhaling heavily. Neither, Esra, Badr nor Sinbad understood what brought on this sudden state.

"Um Ja'far?"

Going around the table, Ja'far helped Badr and Esra out of their seats and started leading them towards the door. A blank smile on his face. "Okay; you two should get some rest. We'll talk more about this another time. Don't worry, we'll help you figure things out. Alright, see you tomorrow, goodnight."

* * *

Badr and Esra barely got a chance to glance behind them before the door was closed swiftly, both looked at each other.

"Well; that seemed kinda weird." Badr said looking over at Esra.

Esra nodded, jutting out her hip and crossing her arms. "More so than usual."

* * *

Ja'far leaned against the door, slapping his forehead hard before he started pacing around the room muttering incoherently to himself while Masrur and Sinbad watched him as he heavily stepped from one side of the small room to another in no more than five strides. As one of Sindria's generals and top advisor's to Sinbad; Ja'far was often placed with many responsibilities and difficult tasks but he was always able to get through a challenge and hardly ever showed stress, worry or fatigue. But after this brief meeting, he seemed to be showing symptoms of all three.

Sinbad warily held up his hand, hesitant as if he was reaching towards some kind of wounded animal.

"Ja'far, what are you-

Ja'far gave Sinbad a firm look that caused the purple haired man to jump back in his seat and retract his hand.

"I'm going to kill you!"

"Ja'far!"

"You idiot!" Ja'far took several steps forward, holding out his hands as if he was ready to throttle the man that was his leader and king but held himself back. Trembling somewhat.

"Why are you so angry!?" Sinbad asked, leaning back in his chair, away from his friend. Ja'far might have given up the assassin life but that didn't mean he's forgotten about it; that includes a few interrogation tricks.

"You mean you really haven't figure it out?" Ja'far asked, still holding himself back.

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

Masrur then muttered, "Airhead of the Seven Seas."

Reeling back, Ja'far straightened his clothes and stood up straighter, sucking in a breath without aiming for air, merely to make his speech longer. "Okay, let's start with this. Those two children are Sakura's."

"Yeah…." Sinbad nodded; his eyes mirroring hurt. "They really are."

Ja'far wanted to tell Sinbad then to save that expression for the end because he was probably going to be crying when Ja'far was through telling him what he's deduced from what they knew about Badr and Esra.

"And they're ten."

"Yes, Ja'far you asked them yourself." Sinbad said, "Why are you getting like this?"

Ja'far groaned loudly, expressing his disdain. "Listen; those two children are ten and Sakura left a little under eleven years ago. They don't know who their father is…..and you said they have the same names as your parents; you know-like they were named after them…" Ja'far paused to gather himself again after feeling the bottle of emotions ready to tip over the unstable platform that his king's life. Holding up his arms in arches as if mirroring an unbalanced scales movements. "See where I'm going with this?"

Sinbad was frowning deeply, his expression seemed lost for a moment before it dreadfully came to realization; his eyes clouded over with the same level of worry and dismal as Ja'far had a few moments ago. Sinbad held out his hand, as if it was would orchestrate the words out of his mouth but he would pull back, choking.

"Y-You're saying-th-that they-

"They're Sakura's children and yours." Masrur stated.

"WHAT?" Sinbad started sinking down from his seat, the shock acting as a weight on his body and rendering him almost immobile as he slid down, nearly falling off the chair. Once he regained his balance, Sinbad started shaking his head vigorously. "There is no way; that cannot be!"

"They also look just like you." Masrur told Sinbad.

"The timing's also too close for it to be a coincidence Sinbad." Ja'far hissed, clenching his fists.

"Or-Or, m-maybe it's so close it has to be a coincidence right?" Sinbad asked, trembling.

"That doesn't make sense." Masrur said.

"Well," Sinbad in haled sharply, before letting out small pants. "It's a little to think straight when you can barely breathe…..I don't think there's a lot of blood in my brain right now."

Masrur then commented, "Which is probably how this happened in the first place."

"There is no way; Sakura and I were ALWAYS careful." Sinbad assured his comrades-although he felt it was more for him.

Ja'far ran his hands over his face, "Okay, let's go with that-at least until we see Sakura and confirm this for ourselves; but for argument and our sanity's sake. Is there the tiniest possibility that those children are yours? Think very hard."

Sinbad shook his head without pertaining to Ja'far's advice to think. "No. We knew we were too young and we were always careful. Sakura kept track and warned me when we wouldn't be safe."

"So you're completely certain the two of you were always careful? Until the very last night?" Ja'far asked just to clarify.

Sinbad nodded again, "Until the very last-

The abrupt silence was like stone dropping on everyone's heads in the room. It was then that a detail of the past occurred in Sinbad's mind; not on the night that Sakura left but the night before when she gave him the 'warning'.

Sinbad groaned loudly and hung his head low. The truth coiling around him like a serpent's tail, trapping and ready to devour its prey and unfortunately for Sinbad; he was the helpless mouse.

" **Until'** the very last night."

Ja'far covered his face with his hand, "Shit."

* * *

Balbadd had been one of the many amazements of this world to Sakura; a country built of hundreds of islands and together forming this great nation but when she walked along the same streets after ten years; it felt different. There weren't many changes in aesthetics aside from the same buildings looking a little older, it was atmosphere created in the way the people now carried themselves-or rather barely carried themselves.

Walking along the cobble stone streets, people moved around slowly, wearily. As Sakura, Ino and Hinata walked pass some of the familiar streets that could still be placed, Sakura began to reminisce. The times she had gone to the harbor to pick up cargo with Hinahoho and Drakon. The time she went to the slums and played with those children. When she and Sinbad walked to the pavilion to dance only to find that the musicians weren't there.

Sakura wrapped her hands around the rings on her neck.

Ino and Hinata looked around with a lost wonder in their eyes, as any tourists would when coming to a new, foreign place.

"Sakura, have you been to this place before?" Ino asked.

"Yes," Sakura replied, "I was here for a while actually."

"Why?"

The pinkette quickly closed the open topic of the past and started to pick up her pace, heading towards the bazaar. Ino looked over at Hinata.

"I feel like there's still something she's not telling us." Ino sighed, hitting her forehead. "Not like it's going to matter."

"Let's just focus on finding Esra," Hinata suggested.

"We've been looking all night since we got here. It's not going to be easy to find her." Ino sighed.

They found out by two girls Leilah and Sahsa, that Esra had been travelling with them for a month and making her way to Balbadd with another girl Morgiana and a boy named Aladdin. They had gotten the description of the three and Sakura knew the girl with them to be a Fanalis on the basis depiction of her having red hair and red eyes along with super strength. Even with the search narrowed down; it didn't help that Balbadd was actually a large area to search and there was no further information to pinpoint exactly where they would be able to find Esra, so from here on out they were going to be searching in the dark.

That did not deter Sakura's determination in finding one of her children. She was going to have to figure something out for finding Badr too but Sakura refused to even glimmer in the thoughts that her children were lost to this world.

"Alright, we're not here to sight see. Keep a sharp eye out." Sakura said moving through the street stands, barely glancing more than once at the attractions.

'She has to be here.'

…

…

…

…

…

….

"No way, there's no way! I refuse to believe that fortune teller! There is no way that-that was my fated person! He looks like a pig!"

Angry footsteps came to an abrupt halt when the female figure blindfolded by her own ranting ending up bumping into the pinkette in the next few steps. Sakura instinctively reached out, grabbing hold of the girl's shoulders to steady her and keep her from falling.

"Ow…."

The girl looked up at Sakura, she was young, only in her teens, light pink eyes and dark rose pink hair, styled in a princess cut that extended past her waist which was pinned up with a golden hairpin. She was wearing a plane dress with a wrap; for some reason it seemed to contrast with her doll-like features. Sakura also had a strong sense of familiarity when she looked at the girl.

"Are you okay?" Sakura asked.

"I'm so sorry." The girl said, stepping away. "I wasn't paying attention to where I was walking."

"That's okay." Sakura told her calmly. Ino and Hinata came up to stand next to the pinkette then two more figures stepped in, addressing the young girl that had bumped into Sakura.

"Hey old hag; there you are!"

"Your highness, please do not wonder off like that again!"

Looking back, standing a little ways from the four girls, were two males. There was a lanky man with black wavy hair tied back, he had yellow eyes behind his glasses. He also had markings on his face running symmetrically down his cheeks.

The second male stood out, he was also in his teens, lean although slightly muscular from what could be see with his choli exposing his stomach; he also had on black pants. He also accessorised with golden bangles on his wrists. He had red, ringed eyes and spiky black hair with a body length ponytail.

Sakura squinted, another familiar wave washing over her as she observed the second male and he looked back at her, his red eyes narrowed. There was something about the way the rukh were reacting to him.

"The rukh's so weird around her….." he trailed, narrowing his eyes at Sakura and then they widened, his mouth gaping as a sharp gasp escaped him. He pointed at Sakura as if he had caught sight of something abnormal and was pointing it out to the world. "No way!? Is that you interloper?"

There was only one person in this world who had ever called her that. The one person who knew who she was without explanation.

Sakura inhaled sharply, starring wide eyed at the young man. "Judar…."

With a wide-mouthed smile, Judar approached the pinkette hurriedly until he was at such a close proximity their noses were nearly touching. He put his hands on her shoulders to keep in her place as he looked over the pinkette as if she was some kind of interesting trinket he wanted to buy.

"It is you!" Judar exclaimed, pulling away and putting a hand on his hip. "What the heck are you doing here? Last I heard, you checked out of this world ten years ago."

In and Hinata shared the same curious glance before turning back to the individuals in front of them.

"So you do know him, Sakura?" Hinata asked.

"Yes." Sakura trailed, keeping her eyes on the magi.

Then the other pink haired girl chided in, "Judar, you know this women?"

Judar looked back, "That's right old hag."

"Don't call me old hag!" the girl fumed, stomping her foot on the ground and puffing out her cheeks.

Sakura then turned to the younger girl, startled when her features started to fall into place. "K-Kougyoku?"

She immediately looked over at Sakura, raising her eyebrow. "That's right….do I know you?"

"Well yes but I wouldn't expect you to remember me." Sakura said, unable to contain her smile. "We met when you were a little girl. While I was staying in Kou; we use to play together. Remember this?" Sakura moved her hair out of the way to show Kougyoku her flat forehead.

Kougyoku's eyes widened in shock and recognition, she stepped close towards the other pinkette. "Sakura-nee!"

"SAKURA-NEE?!"

Ino and Hinata stared wide eyed while Judar and the man next to him jaw's dropped when Kougyoku went up to the pinkette to embrace her tightly. In a manner that looked like she was getting ready to lift Sakura into the air.

Ino looked at Hinata, flinging her hands around and mouthing voicelessly, 'What is happening?'

Hinata just shrugged, her eyebrows scrunched in confusion. Sakura had said she came to this world before; it only made sense to believe she had made some acquaintances.

Sakura laughed, wiggling in Kougyoku's embrace to pat the Kou princess on her head. "It's nice to see you too."

"Sakura how do you know these people?" asked Ino.

Both pinkettes looked back to Ino and Hinata, Sakura rubbed the back of her neck. "Well…."

Judar then interrupted, looking at Ino and Hinata. "No way, more interlopers?"

"Why is this guy calling us interlopers?" asked Ino. She remembered Vapula referring to them as that as well.

"Excuse me miss. Who are you exactly?" the lanky dark haired man then asked Sakura.

Kougyoku turned back to her assistant and household member, Ka Koubun. "This is Sakura Haruno; Ka Koubun. She's an old friend of mine and of Kouen-onii-sama."

"W-What was that? A friend of who?" Ka Koubun appeared completely flabbergasted at this piece of information.

"Kouen-onii-sama." Kougyoku repeated.

Judar let out a loud 'ha', his eyes shining with excitement "So you totally know her too and she's a friend of En's; what the heck? You sure got around huh?"

Sakura looked confused now, watching Judar and Kougyoku converse. "So hold on, how do you two know each other?"

Judar gave a wide grin, patting his chest proudly. "I'm the priest of the Kou Empire and the old hag is a princess there and one of my king's candidates."

Sakura gaped at them, it wasn't news to her that Kougyoku was a princess but what really shocked her was Judar's follow ups. "What?"

"You can say that again." Ino muttered, more lost than before.

* * *

The pile of questions along with the commotion that would probably be caused had Sakura, Ino, Hinata, Judar, Kougyoku and Ka Koubun moving to a more private location. At the hotel Kougyoku was supposed to be lodging at. They went to the serving areas downstairs, sitting at a table that barely seemed to be able to seat all six of them, Sakura, Ino and Hinata on one end and Judar, Kougyoku and Ka Koubun on the other.

After their food was placed in front of them, they immediately went to conversing instead of eating.

"I just can't believe that you were that little girl with those longs bangs and lack of equilibrium." Sakura said looking at Kougyoku. "You're so beautiful."

Kougyoku blushed, looking down at her plate. Judar scoffed, taking a bite out of a peach before speaking. "Yeah right, as if she can pull off that off. All this old hag is a total pain."

"Why you!" Kougyoku glared at Judar but she didn't make any move to attack just yet.

Sakura's sweat dropped, as she gave a wry smile. "I see you haven't changed at all huh Judar?"

The young magi snorted, "I can say the same to you; but I am curious. How in the hell are you here though? Last time I checked; you booked out of here and went back home."

"I did." Sakura said, her voice turning serious. She wasn't entirely unguarded around Judar right now, because of the fact that he was now associated with Kou; not to mention there was a limited amount of ways for her to get transferred back into this world. It wasn't through Yunan's Looking Glass. And she wasn't even sure if what she transferred through was the Looking Glass but it had to be some kind of magical item that only someone like a magi could wield-or perhaps a magician. It seemed too coincidental that Gyokuen, the empress of the Kou empire would be the one to appear before they were transferred and for Judar to suddenly also be the priest of the empire. Yet, he looked just as surprised as she was when they saw each other.

'What's going on here?'

"And now you're back with two other interlopers?" Judar pointed at Ino and Hinata. "You looking to start up some trouble in this world again?"

"Nothing of the sort." Sakura pointed on either side of her, first she held out her hand towards Ino. "These are my friends; Ino Yamanaka."

"Hello." The blonde waved.

"And Hinata Hyuga." Sakura gestured to the women on her right.

"Pleased to meet you." Hinata bowed her head slightly.

Kougyoku bowed her head slightly in return, "Pleasure to meet you; I'm the seventh princess of the Kou Empire; Kougyoku Ren and this is my advisor Ka Koubun and Judar, our empires priest."

Ino gasped softly, "You're really a princess? How do you know Sakura?"

"She stayed at the palace as a guest a few years ago and use to spend time with me." Kougyoku seemed to smile at the memories.

Judar raised his eyebrow, "When the heck did that happen though? You were usually always with-

"While I was in a dungeon; I met Kouen and I went back to the palace with him." Sakura interrupted, wanting to avoid the direction Judar was about to take them in. That was a path of no return and right now, she needed to be able to reel back.

"Prince Kouen." Ka Koubun corrected abruptly.

"It's okay." Kougyoku waved dismissively, "Sakura, was very close with Kouen Onii-sama. She called all of us by our first names."

"No shit." Judar smirked, rubbing his chin. "Who would've thought; you were friends with the Kou Empire's royal siblings."

"Yeah, who thought you knew royalty Sakura." Ino said, equally surprised.

"It was a long a time ago." Sakura pointed blankly.

"I'll say; things haven't been as interesting since you left." Judar leaned his head right back, starring up at the ceiling.

"Hey, what exactly happened with Serendine then?" Sakura asked; the last time Judar was with the Parthevian princess. They had left together and Sakura hadn't seen either of them since.

Something gleamed in Judar's expression that caused a shiver to run down Sakura' spine. She couldn't even place what that gleam was but she didn't like it. Judar closed his eyes then and smirked, turning his to the side and shrugged his shoulders. "Like you said, it was a long time ago. Kinda a boring story anyway."

Before they could get into small talk regarding the past, Sakura made a move to get to the angles she was aiming for. "So; what are you doing here exactly?"

Kougyoku smiled up at Sakura, a familiar admiration gleaming in her eyes. "I'm supposed to marry the current king of Balbadd. I'm meeting him for the first time."

Sakura looked like she was about to choke, lurching forward; she was glad hadn't taken a sip of her drinks yet. "Really?! You're getting married?"

Kougyoku nodded shyly.

Judar snickered, "Yeah; that's right. I'm supposed to go to some meeting tomorrow afternoon at the palace regarding this; it's kinda a bore."

'A lot sure happens in ten years.' Sakura thought grimacing internally. If Kougyoku was getting married at this young age it lead her to thinking that Sinbad must have also been married by now. If he was king, there was bound to be certain expectations of him and at the age he would be now, it was typical for him to be married-or at least have someone in order to procure his legacy.

Swallowing hard, Sakura shook away the thought. It's been ten years; a lot was expected to change. Rationalising that it was best not to think about Sinbad when she had no intention of reaching out to him.

"Hey wait a second…." Sakura frowned, after her mind cleared something came to mind. "You're the seventh princess….isn't a political matter like this usually the duty of the first princess or is Hakuei already married?"

Kougyoku shook her head, looking down, gripping the fabric of her dress. "Hakuei is now the fourth princess of Kou and also a general. See, when my father descended to the throne-

"Wait what?" Sakura interrupted with wide eyes, "Your father's the emperor now?"

Judar crossed his arms, "Boy; you really have been gone a long time huh? That former emperor Hakutoku passed away a couple years ago in a fire."

"What?" Sakura gasped out.

Kougyoku nodded, her eyes softening. "Him and two of his son's. There was a fire in the estate they were in and they didn't make it out…."

Sakura swallowed heavily, she could feel her heart pounding in her chest, "Which son's?"

Ka Koubun answered instead as Kougyoku didn't look like she wanted to tell Sakura; but unlike her; Ka Koubun had no idea of Sakura's relationship with the former prince's. "The former first prince Hakuyuu and former second prince Hakuren. No one knew how that fire had started; but when it did; the emperor Hakutoku and his three sons, Hakuyuu, Hakuren and Hakuryuu were inside the building that had caught ablaze and only the third prince made it out. After that, Lady Gyokuen married the next emperor of Kou, Koutoku Ren."

Sakura covered her gaping mouth, her eyes as wide as they could go, glossing over with despair.

"Ka Koubun!" Kougyoku exclaimed, glaring at her attendant causing him to leap back at the princess's sudden change in tone and demeanour.

"W-What did I-

Judar raised his eyebrow, holding his arms tightly crossed to his chest. "What's this about?"

Hinata and Ino looked at Sakura who had gone chillingly still and silent; they wanted to reach out to her but were afraid of the reaction they might receive if they should.

"Sakura…?" Hinata murmured softly.

Thickly swallowing, with a sharp inhale and rapid blinking of glossy eyes, Sakura looked up with a wry smile. "It's alright, Kougyoku." She paused, briefly shutting her eyes and then looking up as brightly as she could, which was more like a grey tinge. "Don't worry; I'm just a little stunned…."

Kougyoku's expression saddened, "I'm sorry, I know that you and-

"It's alright." Sakura repeated quickly, with a blank smile and a voice void attempting to mask it with empty calmness. Kougyoku reached out, resting her hands over Sakura's one that laid on the table and the pinkette didn't pull away. There was an uncomfortable silence for a while before Sakura pulled away and stood up.

"We should go check into our rooms." Sakura told Ino and Hinata, the two silently followed after the pinkette once they gave their greetings. Agreeing to meet up with Kougyoku sometime tomorrow again.

* * *

Sakura stared silently out of the window, watching the sun bare its final light before falling down into darkness. She hadn't moved from her place there. She, Ino and Hinata had checked into the hotel that Kougyoku, Judar and Ka Koubun were staying at. Kougyoku offered to take care of the lodging expenses and the three kunoichi accepted the princess's offer. The room was large, with three canopy best posted near each other, deep coloured and exotically patterns adorned the room. From the wallpaper, to the furniture and ornaments. It was nice place to rest after travelling for so long and spending so many nights outside. But the décor did nothing to lighten the heavy weight of the darkening atmosphere around the pinkette.

"Sakura?" Ino called but the pinkette refused to turn around to acknowledge her. Ino sighed heavily, "Sakura come on; you can't keep up this silence façade. You need to snap out of it; I get that you were close to those people. We understand that you're upset, but you can't just sulk right now. It's not like you were with them long enough to become like this!"

Sakura turned around, holding up the chain between her fingers where the two rings lied. "You asked me once where I got these rings, Ino. See the golden one? It was given to me by the First prince of the Kou Empire; Hakuyuu Ren...He told me to return it to him when he became emperor; I either had to have it in my hand…or on my finger."

Hinata gasped softly, realizing the implications of what Sakura said. "He was…."

"In love with you." Ino finished, stunned nearly speechless.

Sakura sighed softly, putting the chain back around her neck. "I might not have been with them very long Ino; but I was here long enough to form a bond with the people I've met. But I had to make a choice, this world or mine."

The pinkette turned back, "And right now, I feel like I'm paying for my decisions."

That night had ended is silence for the three kunoichi. It was then that Ino and Hinata were left to wonder if there was perhaps more that Sakura had left behind in this world than they had initially thought. It was clear to them though; that their pink-haired friend still had plenty to reveal to them. Hopefully with time, they would get to know the rest of her story and not just a chapter.

* * *

The following day Sakura, Ino and Hinata spent all of their time searching vigorously for Esra and hopefully Badr as well. They barely rested as they went around looking for Esra, but Balbadd was a lot of territory to cover. However there seemed to be an uproar in Balbadd that day. While walking along one of the docks, they came across a declaration painted across the walls and several others on posters plastered all over the city.

There was an unusual commotion and buzzing that wasn't there yesterday; crowds were gathering around these notices so Sakura took a look.

Sakura stopped to read it out loud since she was the only one who could read it. "To those who are discontented, gather today at noon at the royal palace. Today with all of your as my witnesses, I will gain and audience with King Ahbmad and discuss the future of this country until a satisfactory answer can be reached. Signed: The leader of the Fog Troupe, Miracle Man Alibaba And Third Prince of Balbadd, Alibaba Saluja."

For some seconds Sakura just stared at the poster before abruptly turning away. Telling Ino and Hinata that they were to resume their search. While it dawned on her that she knew who this person was being referred to; Sakura pushed back the urge to involve herself as she had so many years ago, listening to the rukh that lead her to Alibaba before. There was something that she needed to accomplish here in Balbadd; that was her priority. Her children.

* * *

"Don't worry Sakura, we'll find Esra somehow." Ino reassured her friend when they got back to the hotel. They had been searching for hours that day and still came up with nothing, most of the city was vacant at noon because of the declaration posted, so they were able to search the areas better. Still, they came back from their search with no luck.

Sakura wiped off the sweat from her brow, sitting at the end at the bed. "I know, I'm just really worried. It's frustrating to think that Esra is somewhere in Balbadd and Badr is still...

Hinata sat beside Sakura on the bed, soon joined by Ino, comforting the pinkette in the middle.

"We'll keep searching until we find them Sakura. Badr and Esra are strong, they can protect themselves." Hinata reminded Sakura.

"There's just a lot for them to protect themselves against in this world."

There was no knock on the door prior to prepare the three girls for the intrusion, so when Judar came and practically threw the door open nearly off its hinges; Ino, Hinata and Sakura all jumped back. The magi walked in carelessly, looking around the room for Sakura and spotting her on the bed.

"Hey, guess what I-

"Judar!" Sakura interrupted, stomping over to the magi "Ever heard of knocking?"

Pulling a face, Judar gave Sakura a deadpan expression clicking his tongue. "Of course I have, why are you shouting?"

"Oh for the love of!" Sakura rolled her eyes reminding herself once again that Judar hadn't changed at all since he was a child and thus his habits of respecting boundaries were at that same mediocre level as before.

"Anyway!" Judar went up to Sakura, closing the remaining distance between them, grabbing her arm and pulling her away from her friends. "I've got something to tell you! You're gonna want to hear this!"

Sakura squirmed in the magi's arms but like his persona when it came to getting what he wanted, his grip was relentless. Judar leaned down to whisper in Sakura's ear.

"I saw something very interesting today, you're going to love this."

With narrowed eyes, Sakura put her hand on Judar's chest to push him back a little. She spoke softly, aware that Ino and Hinata were still watching them. "What are you talking about Judar?"

He was far too joyous and that made Sakura feel that whatever he was about to tell her was going to be the cause of more distress.

Judar's grin seemed to only stretch further after glancing up at Ino and Hinata before leaning down again to the pinkette, he whispered to Sakura. "This afternoon at that boring meeting I was supposed to have at the palace. There was this annoying crowd outside and when I got inside; I ran into a favourite singularity of yours…."

Sakura's breath hitched. Grabbing Judar roughly by the wrap around his shoulders, she pulled him out of the room protesting and ignoring the calls of her friends. After slamming the door shut, Sakura pushed Judar into the hallway wall, hissing softly.

"Geez pinkie, do something about that strength!" Judar winced when his head hit the back of the wall and he effortlessly rubbed it in an attempt to sooth the throbbing.

"Judar what you just said earlier, don't tell me you're referring to…..

Judar stopped, leaning back with a smile. "That's right. That idiot king; Sinbad. He was at the palace today.

Sakura felt her throat tighten; this couldn't have been the worse timing. Stepping back, Sakura covered her eyes with her hand, her breathing becoming erratic. It was ridiculous; to think that he would show up here of all places just on the off chance that she also happened to come to this country. It was enough of a shock just to see Kougyoku and Judar-if she were to run into Sinbad now, especially when she-Sakura stopped herself from going down that path of thought.

"This is not happening."

Judar shrugged, carless to the pinkette's frantic behaviour. "Yeah, he's here. I didn't talk much with him though. He was not happy to see me."

Sakura looked back at Judar, as alarmed and frantic as a wounded animal trying to get away from something. "Did you tell him I was here Judar!?"

"Nah, I didn't think about it then-but I should've." Judar slumped forward; he realized the kind of chaos that would entail if Sinbad found out that Sakura was back in this world. It was a really exciting thought as well as disappointing because he had missed one of his chances.

"Judar!" Sakura glared at the magi, "You cannot tell Sinbad I am here! Do you understand?"

Judar scoffed, holding up his arms in a shrug motion. "Why not? Is it this thing about seeing your ex or something? I mean I know you ditched him but come on interloper. I don't really know where he is right now though but I'll be sure to give him the news when I see him again okay?"

Sakura bit her bottom lip hard, causing it to bleed. She stomped over to Judar, stopping just far enough, she gripped the fabric around his shoulders and pulled him towards her, their noses touching and breathes mingling. "Judar, don't' you dare! I'm warning you!"

Judar didn't seem intimated by the pinkette's threatening tone or her vicious expression. "That's not going to work."

Removing Sakura's hand from his wrap, Judar turned around and started walking away. His hands behind his head. "I'm really bored right now; you and that Idiot King together are bound to be entertaining one way or another. Don't bother with the threats; it's not like you have any metal vessels to stop me. Bye interloper."

With that Judar left, leaving Sakura to stand in the hotel hallway silently as her mind reached the finish line in realization. If Judar was going to make well on his statement then that left Sakura even less time to find Esra than she thought.

* * *

Sakura returned to the hotel room, Ino and Hinata immediately asked what had just transgressed between the two but Sakura appeared rather frazzled. But Sakura was moving about the hotel room, packing up her things.

"We're leaving now."

Ino and Hinata stood up, "What?"

"Sakura did something happen?" asked Hinata.

Sakura paused, turning back to the two women, "Yes, we need to find Esra now and leave this country as soon as possible."

Hinata and Ino didn't question Sakura while they prepared to leave the hotel in search of their friend's daughter. It seemed however, that Sakura looked more like she was getting ready to run rather than search.

* * *

Esra, Badr, Morgiana and Aladdin were eager to hear from Alibaba how the negotiations went but he was barely able to speak before he and Sinbad were dismissed from the palace as Ahbmad had other visitors-from the Kou Empire. Alibaba had tried to persist but his half-brother refused to listen to him. Alibaba was distraught because of the turn of events today and what's more, his friends weren't the only ones who wanted to know how the non-existent negotiations went thinking that there was still actual fabric; still hoping. Ja'far and Masrur then called on them to go outside with the rest of the people so that Sinbad could inform everyone that the negotiations had fallen through.

Alibaba and Sinbad stood on a platform made of a pile of rubble from a wall that had broken down in one of the buildings in the slums. A large crowd gathered in front of them, eagerly awaiting the news and Alibaba was disoriented at the prospect of destroying those eager faces with his failure.

Sinbad spoke, without waver; despite the nature of the news he was about to deliver. "Today's negotiations completely broke down and our demands were ignored. A clash between the imperial army and our forces are inevitable."

The crowd's distress came fast at the mention of a battle, since Cassim and the rest of the Fog Troupe members wielding the magical weapons had deserted. Yet Sinbad did not appear deterred even after someone said that they were done for; as he continued to speak strongly.

"Today for the first time, you fought openly and honestly instead of thieves hiding in the mist. Do not forget the reason you decide to fight! To escape the overwhelming poverty and support your families! Does anyone think those things are now done for!?"

The crowd started to silence their disdain, instead filling with the warmth of hope and that only grew after Sinbad's next statement.

"I will lend all of your my power. No matter what forces, I will overcome them. If you are driven out by your country, I will accept you in mine. This world is still filled with so many unreasonable things. I will accept all those who stand against such inequalities!"

Shortly after the announcement that Sinbad made, everyone wanted to meet with him, to thank him and share their gratitude for standing with them. Amongst the crowd, keeping a distance was Alibaba, Aladdin, Morgiana, Badr and Esra.

"He's kinda overwhelming." Esra stated, putting her free hand on her hip while her other kept hold of Badr's.

"Yeah," Badr agreed tightening his grip on Esra's hand. "Though I do think he's kinda cool."

"You haven't seen him naked."

"Hey Sinbad!"

Everyone's heads turned up to the figure standing above them on a piece of fabric, high up in the air. A male with long dark hair in a thick braid, with red eyes smirking down at everyone.

"So this is where you were hiding Lord Moron."

"Judar!" Sinbad hissed, glaring up at the magi.

Judar jumped off of his flying carpet and onto the ground swiftly, "What are you doing here?"

Alibaba and Sinbad had seen this man at the palace earlier today but there wasn't really much time to exchange words, although it was clear that he and Sinbad knew each other.

"Judar, are you here on behalf of Ahbmad or the Kou Empire?" Sinbad asked.

Waving his hand casually, "Neither."

"Why are you here then?" Sinbad asked, demanding explanation.

"Good question. I have no interest in the economy but there is one thing I do like." Judar' grinned darkly. "Getting into a war."

Judar started boasting about the military strength of the Kou Empire, ranging from the armies soldiers to the five dungeon capturers as well as the Dungeon monster squad assembled recently.

"Damn Kou." Sinbad sneered.

"Hey now, don't get the wrong idea Sinbad. I'd rather team up with you than anyone." Judar grinned "In fact, I have something to tell you that you might like to hear."

Sinbad narrowed his eyes, "What is it?"

Judar snickered, putting his hands on his hips. "Then again, I was asked not to say anything to you."

"What kind of game are you playing here Judar?"

"No game really," Judar waved, cocking his head to the side, "I just know something that might really set you off. About a certain…." Judar clicked his tongue. "Maybe I won't tell you."

Sinbad gritted his teeth in annoyance, his calm composure dissipating as Judar continued to bait him.

"Who is he?" asked Aladdin

"He's name is Judar, there's bad blood between us." Ja'far explained to the group. "He's a magi just like you."

Aladdin gasped, "A magi?"

"Another one?" Esra asked.

Badr cocked his head in confusion, "What's a magi?"

Judar's attention was diverted when noticed something else that caught his senses so instantly and frowned before turning to look in the direction of Aladdin. The boy staggered a bit at the harsh gaze. "Hey what's with him? The rukh around him are so weird."

Sinbad sighed. Disappointed to reveal but knowing that there wasn't any point in keeping it a secret either. "He's a magi just like you"

Judar looked at them in disbelief "Huh this little twerp is a magi? You're kidding me right; magi's are supposed to be awesome." He ran over to Aladdin and glared down at him as he continued speaking "As sorcerers of creation we're the most powerful magoi wielders of all. There shouldn't be another one around me."

"You reacted to him didn't you?" asked Sinbad "He's a magi just like you."

Judar grinned and it wasn't the good kind either as he turned back to him "Hey there kiddo; my names Judar so tell me what's yours?"

"Oh um...Aladdin" the bluenette answered

"Is that right Aladdin huh? As Magi's let's be friends" Judar held out his hand for him but when Aladdin reached forward Judar pulled his hand back into a first and delivered a quick blow to Aladdin. He stumbled back and Morgiana and Alibaba, Esra and Badr were quick to rush to his side.

"Hey this kids really clumsy; don't tell me you're actually going to team up with this guy Sinbad" said Judar.

"He's not involved in any of this Judar leave him alone." Sinbad said frowning

"My king's candidate?"

"You've gotta have one or two by now," Judar said but when Aladdin remained silent he sighed "Fine I'll search for him myself"

Judar's eyes flashed red as he started to scan around the area looking at the amount of magoi within people around him until he spotted the djinn symbol on one of them however when he's eyes flashed back to normal and he saw who it was he started laughing.

"Hey you're the kid Ahmad was bullying earlier!" he exclaimed laughing "That was really lame; you were howling in desperation and he wouldn't even give you the time of day; in the end you even cried a little! How pathetic."

"He's not pathetic at all" Aladdin yelled "Alibaba's not pathetic in the least; he knew all along that he might not have been acknowledged but he still went for everyone's sake to do what no one else could've done."

They were cut off when they saw Alibaba get blasted into the wall "See there what a wimp" Judar said spinning his wand around.

"Judar!" Sinbad exclaimed

"Come on why are you choosing to hang out with these miserable losers anyway? You a moron or what?"

Judar didn't get an answer as Esra went on to attack him but when she went in for a kick; she made contact with a borge instead, deflecting her attack. Esra jumped back.

"What the?"

Judar looked over at Badr and Esra, "The rukh are strange around you two as well…the heck?"

Aladdin held out his staff, a light emitted from the rukh that started to gather around it. Judar turned, holding up his wand, ready for a fight. Sinbad tried to get them to stop but to no avail, Judar already knew that Sinbad didn't have any of his metal vessels on him now and he was eager to battle against another magi.

"I have a bad feeling," said Badr.

"Same here."

* * *

"Alright, Sakura this is ridiculous. Can we please just head back to the hotel? I want to sleep in a bed." Ino begged the pinkette, throwing her hood over her head to shield herself from Balbadd's cold misty air. For hours they had been scouring through Balbadd. Sakura had them leaping from the rooftops looking everywhere.

"No Ino. For the tenth time, we need to find Esra now."

Ino halted, setting her feet firmly on the ground, "That's it! I've had it with your enigmatic behaviour! First in the dungeon, then with that guy earlier. Whatever happened suddenly made you like this and I want to know what it is!"

"It does seem suspicious Sakura," Hinata pointed out, coming to stand beside Ino. "We're worried about finding Esra too but it looks like you're doing this for another reason."

"I'm not." Sakura retorted, "We just don't have any more time to waste."

"Why is that?" Ino asked, folding her arms. "You better start explaining because I am not taking another step until you tell us exactly what is going on now."

On quiet footsteps Sakura went over to Ino and Hinata; stopping when she was barely a few inches from them.

Licking her lips, Sakura exhaled softly looked away and then back to the two. "You want to know?"

"Yes."

"Fine…." Sakura sighed softly, stepping back. "Full disclosure, when I left this world, it wasn't on the best terms with certain people. And I found out from Judar that some of those people are here in Balbadd. And Judar said that the next time he ran into said people, he was going to inform them of my presence and I'd rather avoid that-for reason's I can't discuss right now."

Ino and Hinata gave each other a shared glance, before turning back to Sakura.

"So you're running away from someone?"

Sakura was about to answer but her attention turned to something else. The mist around them started to thicken around them but it was moving passed and through the air in a pattern instead of event scattered, heading in one direction.

"What is that?"

* * *

Things took a turn for the worst very fast as Aladdin and Judar started clashing but their attacks were cancelling each other out only using magoi-although Judar did manage to damage the buildings further and plenty of people had backed away from the two. Aladdin had summoned Ugo and seemed to have turned the tables but Judar held up his wand and started gathering mist from Balbadd and converting it into a giant block of ice that floated above his head in the sky.

Esra and Badr stared wide eyed, gaping along with the rest of the onlookers who were witnessing the power of this magi.

Judar grinned arrogantly, "Don't be so easily impressed. I haven't even revealed all my skills yet!"

On Judar's command, the ice started to break into smaller-yet still substantially large pieces of ice. Gathering around Judar in the sky. Lifting back his hand, Judar spoke.

"Take this, Sang Arsarros!"

Nearly all of the ice was flung down to the unsuspecting people below, everyone started running, the air filling with screams and the cracking of ice as it hit the ground and spread across the area on impact.

Ugo was able to keep the ice from hitting Aladdin by knocking them away before reaching him as Aladdin was on Ugo's shoulders but Judar wasn't out of ice just yet and delivered another attack. This time Ugo leapt into the air and hit Judar's borge with enough force to bring him to the ground but Judar was otherwise perfectly fine.

Judar laughed, "Not bad, but I still have some ice left."

The ice that Judar was talking about was already heading towards Aladdin, but Ugo put his body in the way and ended up impaled instead of the young magi.

Esra, Badr, Morgiana and Alibaba stared wide eyed and speechless at the sight. There was magoi leaking from the wounds on Ugo instead of blood, but they were going to discover that it this was just as bad as any fatal wound.

"Ugo!" Aladdin attempted to give Ugo more of his magoi by blowing into the flute on top of his head, that had only succeeded in removing the shards imbedded in him but the wounds were still open. Yet, Ugo still stood up.

While Judar wasn't looking Esra came in for another attack, she ran towards Judar. He caught sight of her.

"This kid again."

Judar point his wand, directing a magoi attack, the light shot out towards her. Esra held out her hands, a small shield appearing right before it made contact with her hands, although the small defence vanished shortly after.

"Well….looks like the little girl's a magician." Judar cocked his head to the side in amusement.

Esra frowned, "A what?"

"A magician kid." Judar replied, frowning. "Is everyone here a complete idiot? Seriously. They're users of magic similar to magi-only not as powerful since magician's can only use the magoi in their own bodies. In other words with your level of ability right now, you're not gonna be much fun."

That said, Judar pointed his wand at Esra, using his magic to draw up purple lightning aiming straight for the girl. Esra made some quick hand signs and as the lightning came towards her, the lightning hit 'Esra'.

"Esra!" Sinbad called out in alarm.

"Oh no!" Ja'far exclaimed.

But when they looked again, Esra wasn't there, in place was a log; everyone looked confused (excluding Badr) including Judar.

"Where'd that kid go?"

"Up here!" Esra drew back her fist, gathering chakra she came down towards Judar. Hitting his Borg with the force of her chakra coated punch. There was a powerful reaction as the magoi emitting from the borge and the chakra from Esra collided, the sound of static.

"Something's seriously wrong with this kid." Judar hissed as Esra jumped back, realizing that her attack wasn't going to go through. "The rukh looks like..?"

Badr came up to stand beside her, "You okay?"

"Yeah, but I don't think my attacks are going to have any effect." Esra told him softly. "Bet mom would be able to break through that shield."

"Great, another one." Judar rolled his eyes but then frowned upon closer inspection of the two. "What is going on with the rukh….?

"Over here you lunatic!" Alibaba exclaimed, running over to Judar with Amon drawn. The dagger made contact with Judar's borge.

Judar looked up at Alibaba, the borge blocking him. "Normal attack don't work on me."

The star on the blade started to shine and shattered the borg, as it broke through, Alibaba fell forward, his blade grazing Judar's cheek as he moved out of the way of the attack. Though not completely unscathed.

Alibaba grinned as he looked back, but that smile wouldn't be on for long.

Judar lightly touched the area of his wound, glaring down at the blonde. "That's right, you're a dungeon capturer."

Another magoi shot from Judar sent Alibaba flying back, through some ice embedded on the ground and into a wall.

"Hey!"

Badr moved in from behind Judar, his katana in both hands slicing through the borg as Alibaba's metal vessel had. He then moved in for another attack but Judar moved back in time.

"What are with all these kids?" Judar clicked his tongue in annoyance, flicking his wrist, another quick bolt of lightning shot from it and hit Badr directly, sending him in the opposite direction of Alibaba, causing him to crash into the wall.

"BADR" Esra cried out.

When the rubble cleared, Badr appeared to be barely conscious, the bolt of lightning burnt his skin.

"Alibaba, Badr!" Sinbad shouted.

"Stay out of this Sinbad!" Judar warned. "Once I'm finished with that magi, I'm going to slaughter all these annoying kids!"

Before anyone could make any more attacks, Ugo swung his arm toward Judar, the magi was sent flying back, although protected by the borg, he still sustained some damage, the physical attack was enough to change the borge solid round shape.

The dust from the rubble subsided revealing Judar, there was a slight crater behind him from the impact, "What was that?"

Ugo rushed in for another attack, this time hitting Judar hard into the ground. The power of the magi's borge wasn't enough to keep him from sustaining damage this time that became apparent as Ugo kept going in, attack after attack towards Judar with no restraint and what seemed to be no consideration for those around.

"What's going on?" Esra asked herself, kneeling as she cradled Badr in her arms.

"I-I don't know." Badr coughed harshly, tasting his own blood.

"Ugo stop!" Aladdin tried, but the djinn did not stop his assault on Judar.

While he still had the strength, Judar decided to end his playing at the realization that his life might be in danger. He flew into the air, commanding the rukh and conjuring up a large piece of ice. Sending it down quickly, it pierced Ugo straight through his chest.

"I win."

Or so Judar thought, but then Ugo went in for another attack. Both hands came towards Judar, his borg blocking Ugo from crushing him but he persisted until eventually the borge was broken and Judar was caught in Ugo's crushing grasp.

Everyone stared horrified as Ugo's hands opened and Judar fell on the ground. Unconscious, wounded and barely breathing.

For a few moments Ugo was still, then he raised his arms up into the air, his hands clenched together emitting a bright pink light that shifted to resemble flames. Although Judar had started out as the enemy, it seemed that the real threat had now become the djinn.

"EVERYONE RUN NOW." Sinbad ordered, sensing that this attack was going to have a massive impact and he was right.

As Ugo slammed his hands down on the ground where Judar lay, the impact had erupted around them, destroying a bit of the area. Because of Sinbad's quick alert, everyone was able to move out and avoid being a casualty, although there were a few injured.

"Badr, you okay?" Esra asked. Because of the chaos around them, Esra hadn't gotten to healing him properly.

"Y-yeah."

"Aladdin, what's going on with Ugo?" Alibaba asked, starring down from on top of the roof that Morgiana lifted them onto.

"I don't know, he's never done this before."

When they looked back to see if there was anything left with Judar, they saw that there was no sign of him.

"Where'd he go?" asked Esra.

"What is up with that monster?" A cold, feminine voice entered, clear within the fallen silence.

A shadow from above covered Ugo's form, looking up there was a silhouette of a square but coming closer there was a carpet flying above, blocking the light of the moon on it was Kougyoku, Ka Koubun and a substantial amount of subordinates behind them.

"They're from the Kou Empire." Ja'far gritted his teeth, glaring up at the magic carpet.

"Look what they've done to our Judar." Kougyoku said in a cynical manner.

"Yes, we just managed to save him."

Judar was still lying unconscious on the carpet; badly wounded, but otherwise still breathing.

"But he's been so badly injured." Kougyoku sounded indifferent, "You better heal him Ka Koubun. If he dies we're in big trouble."

"I'm well aware princess."

Ugo turned around, both of his fists glowing brightly with the pink flames, Kougyoku glared at him. "That monster still wants to fight? Alright then."

Kougyoku reached up towards the hairpin on her head and held it in front of her; she began chanting in an almost mechanical manner.

"Spirit of sorrow and solitude, I command the and thin, use my magoi and lend tremendous power to my will." Kougyoku looked up with a wide smile, "VINEA."

A serpent-like creature appeared in the sky, wrapping closely around Kougyoku without touching her. Ugo leapt into the air, his fists colliding with the water and evaporating it that did not sit well with Kougyoku however, fuelling her anger. Water wrapped around Kougyoku's arms and her pin, transforming the hair accessory into a weapon, a long sword that looked like it was carved smoothly of coral and Kougyoku's hands had become wrapped in blue scales like armour.

"What is that?" Esra asked but she wouldn't receive an answer as everyone was too shocked to even think about it or the dangers that it might imply at the appearance of this new comer.

Everyone watched as Kougyoku flew forward towards Ugo, a whirl of water wrapping around her and them driving straight through Ugo with such force that it nearly tore his body in half. The djinn vanished back into the flute and Aladdin rushed to get him.

"Now that that's over."

When Kougyoku was about to leave, stepping onto the carpet with her subordinates to get back and have Judar treated properly but Aladdin followed after them on his own flying cloth.

"What's your problem?" asked Kougyoku. "All we did was rescue our ally from that monster."

"He's not a monster!" Aladdin exclaimed, "Ugo was only trying to protect everyone, it was that guy who attacked us first!"

Kougyoku scoffed, her hands hidden within the confines of her sleeves as she held them to her chin. "So you're the master of that monster and all those people down below are you allies." Kougyoku smiled darkly, gesturing to three of her subordinates standing behind her-whom were the largest of the group, towering and despite being masked with cloths on their faces, they appeared to be almost inhuman. "Enshin, Entai, Engi! Kill them."

The three large figures leapt past Aladdin and onto the ground, everyone cowered back at the colossal size of these individuals.

With her word, the three started a rampage, attacking the people below. The largest had a trunk peering out of its cover, using it to further destroy the buildings and swipe people out of the way like dirt. Masrur went to handle him, stopping the creature's movements but he couldn't seem to overpower him.

* * *

"Holy-ah!" Esra and Morgiana were spinning on their heels trying to avoid being hit from their masked attacker but he was fast, leaping back and forth around them.

"I can't see him!"

"Watch out!"

Ja'far managed to capture him in his cords while he was being occupied by Morgiana and Esra. Ja'far didn't seem like he was going to be able to hold him for long though.

"Mister Ja'far!"

"Help me protect the others!"

* * *

While the 'person' Badr and Alibaba were dealing with was by far the smallest in comparison to the three; he was fast and wielded a sword well as they found while attempting to avoid the attacks from the blade, but both were still recovering from their previous injuries and not too well.

"What's with this guy!?" Badr asked, pulling Alibaba back to attack himself, he placed chakra under his feet to keep himself stable.

"Not bad for children." He said, pulling back to crouch into a fighting stance. "Let's have a match."

Badr and Alibaba glanced at one another, before strengthening their own stances, stabilizing them as best they could.

Then they heard a loud cry.

"CHA"

Before the next strike could be taken, the masked fighter was sent flying to the front, past Alibaba and Badr, into the air and then crashing into a building. When the dust cleared, the Kou's warrior Engi, was still lying there, appearing unconscious.

"Whoa what was…?" Alibaba turned back around with Badr and they saw single figure standing there, their face hidden behind a cloak.

"Who are you?" asked Alibaba.

The figure walked over to Badr, the hood blew off on account of the strong wind and a flash of emerald had Badr gasping in surprise and relief. Sakura stood there in front of Badr; her eyes glossed with unshed tears as she held open her arms.

"Badr…"

"Mom!" Badr ran up to his mother, wrapping his arms around her waist.

Sakura smiled painfully wide with little care, hugging her son back; she sniffed softly. "Hey buddy, already causing trouble huh?"

Badr just hugged his mother tightly, feeling tears come to his eyes as the warmth of relief wrapped around him. Pulling away, Sakura crouched down inspecting her child's wounds with critical eyes. She wanted to get straight to healing but then Sakura heard a few screams from down below, narrowing her eyes as she saw the destruction being caused.

"Stay here."

Alibaba stared wide eyed as the pinkette leap from the building, "Was that…?"

"Yeah." Badr smiled, "That's my mom."

* * *

The crash had caught the attention of a few individuals down on the ground as well, Ja'far included as he looked at the building where Alibaba and Badr stood. He saw a flash of pink and gasped.

"It can't be-

The strings around the Kou subordinate known as Enshin loosened slightly, he took the chance to slip out and threw a punch at Ja'far, and the white haired man skidded across the ground painfully until he hit a wall hard enough to crack it. Coughing up blood as his neck craned and his head threw itself back in agony.

"Aah!"

"Mister Ja'far!" Taking her eyes off her opponent Esra didn't see Enshin came towards her, his hand reaching out to grab her at her head. It was large enough to completely grasp with just one around the girl's head and Esra wasn't able to bring herself to counter in time, so she shut her eyes and waited for the impact.

"Hakke Kusho!"

Right before he could reach her; Esra felt arms wrap around her and pull her out of what had become a dangerous space and Engi was harshly shoved to the side, skidding across the floor, leaving a trail of dust.

Morgiana blinked rapidly at what just happened in a split second, "Who are….?"

Someone was rubbing her shoulders; Esra could feel as she opened her eyes, blinking back the tears that blurred her vision, she saw Ino looking down at her with concern etched in her face.

"Aunt…Ino?"

Ino smiled, hugging the girl to her. "Esra, you're alright. Don't worry."

The young girl then looked in front of her at the women holding out her arms in curved downward arches, in a stance that she was very familiar with.

"Aunt Hinata."

Hinata smiled, glancing back at Esra, "Is everyone okay?"

Esra nodded and Hinata looked back to face her opponent that was beginning to recover but what Hinata was seeing with her Byakugan was shocking. Able to see through anything, Hinata could see this things face, and it wasn't human at least that's not how he looked. Resembling the body of an animal-an ape to be but she was catching more than two eyes.

'What is this?'

Enshin stood up, he didn't say anything but launched forward counter this new attacker, raising a sharply clawed hand towards Hinata but was once again knocked down by a powerful force pushing into him and he was barely able to maintain equilibrium as the attacks continued, all he could really make out was a flash of purple and what looked like lions.

"You remember what she said; finish this quick!" Ino said, relaying the message Sakura had given to them when they had first arrived and saw the chaos erupting from the distance. The second Sakura saw Badr and Esra; she told Hinata and Ino to stop the ones attacking and it was fairly obvious to identify who that was.

"Juho Soshiken!" Hinata drew both of her fists forward quickly, thrusting them into the enemy's chest, she continued to strike, spinning effortlessly on the soles of her feet; she continued to strike. Despite Enshin holding his arms across his chest to avoid any fatal blows, he could feel something piercing through his skin without breaking the outer layers and yet it felt as if his muscles were being burned and his flesh was tearing from the inside.

"HAAAAAAA" Hinata gave one final blow with both hands, hitting straight in the vital point of Enshin's chest, watching him skid back before collapsing.

Panting softly, Hinata deactivated her Byakugan before running over to Ino and Esra.

"Esra, are you okay?"

The girl nodded, smiling as she allowed tears to fall down her cheeks.

Morgiana and Ja'far were just starring shell shocked and gaping but unable to formulate any words.

"Where's mom?"

"Where do you think? Wherever the most trouble is." Ino said, grinning.

* * *

Masrur struggled against his larger opponent, the ground under his feet cracking further and bringing him lower. This wasn't a human; that was certain but the small piece of cloth hide this creatures face well enough.

"It's useless!" Entai said, throwing up his trunk about to swipe at Masrur when he was bashed into the ground, creating a crater in the shape of his body within the solid stones. Masrur stepped back looking at the figure who was standing on top of the creature's body as if it was a part of the ground. Her pink hair blew in all directions concealing her face.

Masrur narrowed his eyes, taking a short whiff of the air. "You're…

The pinkette then leapt away before Masrur had the chance to confirm her identity but he was certain about who that was.

* * *

Aladdin and Kougyoku had moved to a more secluded area of what had now become the battle field. She couldn't hear much anymore though; the screams had ceased as well as the crumbling of the buildings being reduced to rubble. She assumed that it was because her subordinates had already completed their orders to eradicate the people down below.

"I want to see what's happened, so I'll finished this quickly…" Kougyoku threw out her arm with her djinn equip weapon and began to chant. "Spirit of sorrow and Solitude, I command thee." Kougyoku started, holding out her djinn weapon with a wide mouthed smile on her face. "Cover my form, live in my frame…"

Aladdin stared wide eyed, "What is she doing?"

"Change me into a great magician, Vinea!"

As water started trailing around Kougyoku, her arm started to shift in shape, the skin changing to blue and the texture hardening but halfway Sinbad grabbed her wrist, drawing back her djinn equip until there was nothing but her metal vessel in its original form.

"Please stop miss."

"What do you think you're doing!?" Kougyoku glared up at Sinbad, looking down she saw that the magi was being drawn back against her will. "My transformation!"

Kougyoku let out a breath, falling to her knees as fatigue suddenly washed over her but Sinbad continued to clutch onto her wrist.

"My lady, am I right to assume that you are a princess of the Kou Empire?"

"Who are you?" Kougyoku demanded, glaring up at the man.

"I am Sinbad. The king of Sindria."

Kougyoku felt her heart skip a beat as she gazed up at Sinbad, the moonlight illuminating from behind him. Almost intently making him the focus of attention; his golden eyes contrasting wonderfully against the light and darkness.

"Kougyoku!"

There was yet another crash, in a blue Kougyoku was freed from Sinbad's grasp and pulled back into another. Kougyoku looked up at Sakura who had appeared in between her and Sinbad.

Kougyoku gasped, "S-Sa-

"What's going on here Kougyoku?" Sakura asked, narrowing her eyes.

The Kou princess's former demeanour seemed to switch instantly from cold and calm to flustered and shy, as she looked up at the women she had admired, like a child being scolded.

"T-These people were attacking Judar. He's not even conscious now! So-

"You sent your subordinates to attack all these people?" Sakura snapped causing the other pinkette to flinch at her tone. Sakura had noted the Kou's armour and emblem on the ones she attacked and she knew where they were from instantly.

Kougyoku held up her hand shaking it, "That's not exactly what happened, really!"

Sakura sighed, "Well call off your subordinates before they go in for another attack. Because if my friends and I have to stop them again, we're not going to be as forgiving."

"But-

"You shouldn't just go attacking civilians. Your men have injured a lot of them." Sakura stated firmly. "Call them off."

Kougyoku looked up at Sakura, the women's eyes were hard as the gem they reflected. The princess looked down dejected. Her cheeks red and puffed out "Okay."

Sighing once again, Sakura wrapped her arms around Kougyoku's shoulders and patting her head. It seemed that even after all these years, Kougyoku still maintained that timid nature of hers; although that wasn't what Sakura had seen earlier.

Ino, Hinata, Badr and Esra rushed over to Sakura stopping a little ways in front of her.

Esra smiled, rushing forward to embrace her mother, in which Sakura happily returned. "Mom!"

"Mom?" Kougyoku asked, looking back and forth between Esra and Sakura. Badr came over to them as well, his hands behind his head.

"Well, looks like they found us."

"Finally!" Ino exclaimed.

Hinata and Ino walked up to them as well, the five embraced one another tightly. Relief overtaking them with the warmth of one another's embraces. A weight lifted off their shoulders at being reunited.

Sinbad narrowed his eyes, he had been silent this entire time at the arrival of this new person but he did not miss the glimpse of her pink hair but that wasn't enough to confirm his suspicions, no but when Esra and Badr addressed her….

"Sakura….?"

At the mention of her name from what was supposedly a 'foreign' individual to the group; Sakura, Ino, Hinata, Badr and Esra turned around. Their eyes focused on the king of Sindria who had his eyes fixated only on one person.

And when Sakura turned; emerald met gold.

Sinbad observed the girl-women in front of him with extreme care, her hair was cut straight just above her shoulders and it had become a shade darker. Her face wasn't as round as before, nor as sunken in the last time he saw it, it had become narrow but her cheeks were full and her skin had a healthy glow. Her eyes were still just the same, though they shimmered stronger and brighter.

Sakura was confused for a few moments, narrowing her eyes wondering who this person was but then after looking closer, she could see _him._ He was taller, his hair had become darker than she remembered but he kept it long, his face had also changed its shape, now longer-losing its boyish appearance completely and giving him a more masculine aesthetic. It was fitting.

It's like the two were frozen in a moment; oblivious to those near them who were watching very closely with curious and slightly worried expressions as Sakura and Sinbad stood in front of one another, watching as if they were afraid to blink.

When she spoke, Sakura let out a breath she didn't even realize she had been holding. Voicing a name of an individual she truly believed she would never see again.

"Sinbad…"

* * *

 **THAT'S ALL FOR NOW EVERYONE.**

 **I hope this chapter was satisfactory; I don't know when I'm going to be able to update because I have exams in a few weeks and a lot of assignments to finish. Sadly the coil of reality has wrapped itself around me and before I can start writing again, I have to untangle myself from it.**

 **IN the meantime DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW-**

 **Seriously; I love reading reviews. It inspires me!**

 **TILL NEXT TIME!**


	14. Present: Revelation

**Hey everyone guess what I have-another chapter! I was able to get this done since one of my assignments were given an extension and I finished one ahead of time.**

 **Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Sakura had plenty of difficult moments in her life, all varying and igniting different emotions appropriated for each reaction to her situations. when she fought she felt exhilarated and cautious; when she had given birth she had felt nothing but overwhelming pain and after nothing but joy and fatigue; when Badr almost drowned after falling into the thin-iced river one winter Sakura had experienced the worst kind of terror and swore her heart stopped beating. She had been through plenty of difficulties and pleasures that life had to offer her and the emotions that came with them, she was unable to place this particular feeling she felt raging in the pit of her stomach as she stood face to face with the man she had walked away from ten years ago. Unable to utter a word after exhaling his name like you would the mist from your mouth on a cold winter's morning.

Then nothing.

Sinbad couldn't bring himself to speak nor move an inch as he stared at the pinkette before him. Ten years; he hadn't seen her and despite being alerted of her presence and having ample time to register himself; now that they were before one another there was as if something indescribable was possessing him to this state of stillness.

Then again, for both of them, silence and absolute stillness seemed like the most appropriate reaction when you weren't able to consider what would be the best thing to do-do nothing and hope for the issue to resolve itself. Of course that might not be their case.

Ino, Hinata, Badr, Esra and Kougyoku watched Sakura and Sinbad as they continued to stare at one another in a matter that made it seem like they had petrified each other. So deciding to break the ever growing awkwardness that the onlookers were beginning to feel, Ino went up to Sakura and tapped her friend's shoulder to pull her back to reality. As curious as she was being peaked over another closed casket of Sakura's buried secrets, there were actually other priorities to see to beforehand.

"Sakura," Ino coughed.

Turning away from Sinbad, Sakura addressed Ino, "What is it?"

Ino cocked her head over to Kougyoku causing Sakura to turn her back completely to Sinbad once more and that loss seemed to break Sinbad from the trance that he had been under although he still didn't make any move.

Sakura went to Kougyoku, resting her hand on the girl's shoulder. "Kougyoku."

"Y-Yes?"

"My friends and I are going to handle the injured civilians here. You go on ahead and see to Judar's injured alright?"

Kougyoku nodded, although she still looked like she wanted to protest, she chose not to go against Sakura in this. Ordering Ka Koubun and all of her subordinates to follow after her as she took her leave. After they all managed to pick themselves up from the dirt and rubble they were buried under.

"Will I see you again soon?" Kougyoku asked before she went to stand on the flying carpet, where everyone waited for her.

Sakura smiled back at her, although it was merely to mask the truth and painfully forced. "Probably."

With Kougyoku gone, Sakura knew that she was going to have a lot more to face than the opponent she had defeated and it was not going to be easy to overcome. One of her greatest weakness's.

* * *

While Judar and Kougyoku's attack on everyone didn't have any casualties, despite the damaged area, there were a lot injured so Ino, Hinata, Esra and Sakura split up in order to help everyone that was in need of it. Although the separation suggestion was on account of Sakura, as a means to stall for time to figure out what was going to happen next without her friend's or children hovering over her with that suspicious (yet earned) expressions on their faces. What this also did was serve as a permissible reason to move out of Sinbad's presence.

In the narrow paths of the quiet buildings there were tarps laid out with the injured lying on them and being tended to. While Sakura took that time to remain fully focused on nothing but treating the wounded while remaining a safe distance from the source that would inevitably take hold of her mind but that distraction did not last longer. Little more than three hours later everyone who was in need was treated, their wounds healed and were settled. Thus came the time to regroup.

Ino stood up walking over to Hinata who had come around the corner, waving to them man who she had just finished treating and her last patient. Hinata had treated some of the wounded and then she helped gathering supplies for them and distributing it out before she went to find her friends again.

"I'm done over here." Ino said.

"Me too."

Ino stretched out her arms, looking around, "Where's Sakura?"

Hinata pointed down another path, settled with many people and they spotted Sakura's hair in the distance through the darkness. She seemed to be finishing up as well then, a firm and focused expression on her face and yet there was distance in her eyes.

"What do you think she's hiding this time?"

Hinata shrugged, "I'm not sure, but I feel like it has something to do with that man we saw earlier."

"Yeah, I got that same feeling." Ino put her hand on her hips.

* * *

Esra and Morgiana had paired up together to help assist with all of the injured, they were making a few rounds to double check on everyone. They had also gone through the buildings to check for supplies for which included blankets and whatever could be used as medical supplies. The environment wasn't adequate for resting or treating the wounded but they had to do what needed to be done and at this point, comfort was a luxury that fell below health.

"Where did Badr and Alibaba go?" asked Morgiana, holding a stack of blankets in her arms.

Esra shrugged her shoulders, "They didn't say. Do you want to track them after this?"

Giving a brief nod, Morgiana started to make her way over to Sinbad and Ja'far who were helping with the wounded as well.

* * *

Sinbad was hurrying along to get everyone's injuries treated, so that he could have that conversation with the first and last women he had ever allowed into his heart. After Kougyoku left, Sakura had ignored his presence and spoke to her friends and children, telling them to help treat the wounded and then meet up after. Knowing her record for being able to pull elaborate escapes when you'd least expect it, Sinbad wanted to ensure that she wasn't going to just vanish again. There was a lot that needed to be addressed and he knew it would give her incentive to run if gave her so much as a wisp of suspicion that he knew what she clearly wouldn't want him to.

"There doesn't seem to be any casualties." Ja'far said with the same solemn expression as Sinbad.

"That's good." Sinbad said. "Let's treat the injured and then we can regroup."

Ja'far nodded, he was also a bit impatient for the regrouping as well.

Morgiana and Esra came up to the two men, carrying blankets. "We've gathered some cloth. And also handed out water to those who needed it."

"Thank you. You two should take a break." Sinbad suggested.

Morgiana shook her head abruptly "No, we're still going to help treat the wounded."

"Actually, I'm pretty sure my mom and her friends have that covered but we can go and double check."

Morgiana nodded, turning around to leave with Esra. "Right."

Before Esra left, she gave one more glance over to Sinbad and Ja'far. Sinbad said that she knew her mother and it seemed that he was telling the truth but the reaction the two had towards each other left the girl rather curious and somewhat disconcerted.

"They're sweet girl's; strong and kind-if not a little on the temperamental side." Sinbad chuckled as he watched the two leave.

Ja'far nodded, "Yes, they're considerate of those around them….and I see that Sakura's taught Esra how to heal just like her."

"Just like her." Sinbad whispered in a somewhat off distanced tone, then looked at Esra who was healing someone's injured arm and then wrapping a splint in it. Obviously she took after her mother in term of medics and that explained her monster strength not to mention her personality.

"Sin," Ja'far rested his hand on his king's shoulder to get his attention. "Are you sure you want to do this now? Maybe we can wait until this matter is resolved."

"I'm fine." Sinbad reassured Ja'far. "Besides, if I want to know the truth. I have to hear it from her."

* * *

After finishing their round about check up on everyone Esra and Morgiana decided to go looking for Badr and Alibaba and heard that they had gone into the building where the Fog Troupe stayed. They walked through the draftee hallway, Morgiana leading the way as she had been to the hideout before, what's more to the room. Morgiana noticed that Esra was being very quiet during their walk; she wasn't much of a conversationalist to start with, much like Morgiana herself but there was this distinct feeling the Fanalis got that something was greatly bothering Esra.

"Are you alright?" Morgiana asked.

Esra nodded, "I'm fine, just worried about my mom. She seemed completely out of sorts after seeing Sinbad. He told my brother and I, that they knew each other already but…"

"I didn't think she would know mister Sinbad too."

"Me neither; he doesn't seem like the kind of guy she would associate with." Esra replied honestly, as if attempting to relieve her own guilt for allowing the two to meet in the first place. She wished she had picked up on some sort of sign. Even if they did know Sakura, that didn't necessarily mean they were allies. Then again, Alibaba also said that he knew their mother so…

"Whoa! How did you get injured there!?"

"I don't know!"

"Ah, I have one here too!"

"Oh you've got to be kidding me."

Esra opened her mouth but quickly shut it, as they heard Badr and Alibaba's voices softly drifting through the hallways like the cold draft. They went over to the door with the dim light peeking under the cracks and opened it.

"Hey Badr, Alibaba we're…."

The girl's stood in the entrance of the doorway, becoming rigid at the sight of Alibaba and Badr with their pants down. Alibaba was on his bed, bent forward with his rear in the air (exposed) and Badr had his back turned with his shorts and boxes around his ankles. Morgiana dropped the bucket of water in her hands to cover her eyes with her arms. Both screaming in alarm.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"

"We were just checking our wounds!" Alibaba defended, still too seemingly struck to change his position.

Badr clicked his tongue, pulling up his boxers and pants, "Geez, ever hear of knocking Mini-monster?"

Esra rolled her eyes; she had seen her brother naked enough times not to care about that kind of modesty and as for Alibaba..."After what I saw before coming to this country; I don't think I'll ever be fazed seeing another naked guy ever again. And I've seen you naked before anyway."

Morgiana knew that Esra was referring to the first time they met Sinbad; even though there was a leaf hiding one part of him, the rest remained to be seen-it also flapped a little when Esra nearly pummelled him in the middle of the road.

Once settled, Esra and Morgiana started taking care of Alibaba and Badr's wounds. They were both injured after fighting Judar and then having to get back up to fight against Kougyoku's men.

"What's mom doing?" asked Badr as Esra handed him back his top after healing his back.

"She, aunt Hinata and aunt Ino are taking care of the wounded but mom said that we should meet her soon."

Badr frowned, "She doesn't want us to leave does she?"

Esra shrugged. She wasn't sure but after that strange encounter, it seemed that all the people their mother knew from this world had gathered together on this night and because of that there was no way of knowing what might happen next.

"Where's Aladdin by the way?" asked Alibaba.

After Kougyoku left and things quieted down, Aladdin went off on his own saying that he wanted to be alone. Ugo's battle as well as his sudden change had really distressed Aladdin and even more so after he was sent back into the flute. Alibaba explained that if Aladdin used Ugo too much, he would end up experiencing extreme fatigue and he had the feeling that was more dangerous than Aladdin made it out to be.

The four stopped when they heard someone screaming from the outside.

"Hey this kid's not breathing!"

"Someone call for help!"

* * *

Sakura smiled gently as she finished treating her last patient and left after ensuring he was comfortable, as one could be given where they were situated right now. Then after doing a quick round about to make sure that no one was suffering anymore from their wounds, the pinkette went to sit on a vacant staircase, a little ways from the chaos. Badr and Esra had gone off with the friends made while they were separated from her. Sakura was yet to get the explanation regarding how the two ended up in Balbadd like this together when Badr and Esra were apparently separated from one another. Then there was the matter of Kougyoku and Judar, the battle and-

Gripping the ends of her hair, Sakura slammed her head back wincing slightly at the involuntary force even though she didn't actually hit anything solid. Her thoughts were weights pulling her down as she attempted to swim up towards the surface for air and escape this sea of distress. To no avail.

Ino and Hinata soon found her crouched on the stair's with her knees up to her chin; which was hardly ever a good sign.

"Sakura, we've finished. What do you want to do now?" asked Hinata.

Sakura looked up to her friends standing in front of her; her eyes darting between the two for a brief moment before returning to her shoes.

"Let's find Badr and Esra and then we should get out of here."

"Why Sakura?" Ino asked quickly, narrowing her eyes.

"Because we need to get back to figuring out a way to get back home." Sakura stated as if it was obvious.

"No. That's not the reason." Ino stepped in front of Sakura, "You're hiding something again and I have a feeling it has something to do with that guy doesn't it?"

A tactful and sharp voice punctured Sakura's thoughts before she could come up with a reply to Ino. "Sorry to interrupt."

Sakura gasped softly, looking up at the approach of the two male figures. An extremely tall man, who without a doubt was a Fanalis and another man beside him, with white hair and visible freckles across his nose.

Sakura gasped as she looked at the white haired man "J-J-Ja'far...?"

The former assassin titled his head sharply in acknowledgment, "Sakura."

Her eyes trailed to the taller males standing beside Ja'far; the young man clad in gold armour with red hair and red eyes.

"Masrur?" Sakura gasped; the last time she had seen him Masrur was only but a child and now he had become this incredibly powerful looking man?

"Hello Sakura." he said in that same stoic tone he held since he was a child.

Ino and Hinata stepped in front to hide Sakura behind them but the pinkette stood up and moved to the front, holding out her arm as a barricade. "It's alright."

Ja'far addressed the three, "Before you make any plans; especially concerning travelling-

Sakura already knew what was going to be said and finished it, "He wants to have a meeting."

Ja'far nodded, "There's a few things that he wants to discuss-

"MOM COME QUICK." Esra and Morgiana ran over to Sakura, when they reached her, Esra started pulling her mother away from the others.

"What's wrong?" Sakura asked,

"There's something wrong, with our friend Aladdin."

* * *

Aladdin was lying on the make shift bed set in the middle of a room that was moderately warm. His skin had become paler, his eyes were closed by his face contorted showing his distress. His breathing was shallow, heavy and pained. That was the condition Sakura had seen the boy in. He had apparently been feeding magoi to his djinn in the flute and he hadn't stopped even after collapsing. So Sinbad ordered the flute to be taken away from him. Currently, Sakura, Ino, Hinata, Badr, Esra, Alibaba, Morgiana, Sinbad, Ja'far and Masrur were all crowded in the room.

Sakura placed her hand on Aladdin's forehead, sifting past his bangs and the red jewel on his head. Then she felt a spark of some kind, a surge or shock of familiarity hitting her in a wave that was short lived. Like waking from a dream, the feelings enticed within it strong but the memory and details of it gone. That was the best way to describe how Sakura felt when she looked at this boy with a tinging vague recognition.

' _Solomon…'_

Shaking her head, Sakura then looked at Hinata. "Hinata, tell me if you see anything."

"Right."

Hinata stepped forward, activating her Byakugan and thoroughly examining the boy's body to make sure that everything internally was healthy. "He looks fine, but his muscles are tightened and his heart beat is a bit slow."

"Ino." The blonde moved to help Sakura with the boy, lifting him up slightly to elevate him as Sakura checked his vital signs. After a thorough examination; there didn't seem to be much damage. So all Sakura could do was help Aladdin breathe easier by using her medical jutsu to give a short healing session to heal his body.

"Is he going to be alright?" asked Badr.

"After some time," Sakura murmured, frowning as she attempted to relive that feeling that had come over her when she saw this boy. But it vanished. "He's breathing easier at least; he's out of strength completely."

"He's used too much magoi." Sinbad told them. "Magi's might be able to use the magoi surrounding them endlessly but they are limited by their own physical ability."

Sakura looked down at the young boy, "So he's a magi too….?"

Aladdin's friends appeared distraught, including Badr and Esra. Sakura hardly ever seen them like this. Alibaba stormed out and Sinbad followed after him. Even without knowing the fully story of things, Sakura could practically feel the disruptive forces in the air and she wanted to get away from it, even though she clearly already swept up in it.

Sakura heaved a heavy sigh, "He should at least sleep better now. There's not much else I can do."

Sinbad glanced at her, with a light smile. "You haven't lost your touch."

A small jolt shot through Sakura when she glanced up at Sinbad but gave no response other than to turn away in a disheartened manner. She wanted nothing more than to leave before Sinbad got any inkling suspicions about her children. This world had caused enough complications without his hand and Sakura did not wish to endure anymore.

Badr and Esra were seated together in the corner of the room with Alibaba and Morgiana. As a means to break through the steel silence, Sakura direction her attentions towards the less intimidating individuals in the room for the moment.

"Okay, so would the two of your like to start explaining what's going on right now?"

Sakura didn't miss the glances between the two after she demanded her answers and she knew that the children were definitely debating on what they were going to tell her. There must have been quite a bit that had gone on when they were separated for that month-at least more than she thought would.

Eventually, Badr and Esra explained to the three women their happenings in that month they were separated. Esra explained how she met Morgiana and Aladdin (without bringing up the whole slave trader incident) and then how she ended up in Balbadd. Also meeting Sinbad along the way and that they helped him-leaving out the details of exactly how that occurred.

'So that's how she met him.' Sakura thought giving a brief glance over at Sinbad who was speaking to Ja'far.

Sakura then asked Badr how he ended up in Balbadd and the boy responded, saying he was teleported there from the beginning. He then met Alibaba and ended up with the Fog Troupe; a group of thieves who were the cause for one of Balbadd's domestic issues. Badr and Esra then explained to Sakura how they ended up meeting again; via the Fog Troupe who were out raiding a mansion and Sinbad who had decided to go after the Fog Troupe-but later joined after discovering the reason behind their actions.

Several minutes no one made a sound as they waited for Sakura to make the first response to the twin's overview of the past events.

"So let me get this straight…." Sakura inhaled softly, she pointed to Badr, "…You joined a group of thieves and you…" Sakura pointed to Esra. "Were assigned to hunt them?"

Both siblings rolled their bottom lips until there was nothing but the straight lines of their skin visible. Their postures stiff as they waited for what was to come.

Sakura was livid, at least now she knew how Sinbad had come to meet the twins and it didn't look like either were aware of their literal relation and she just had to somehow keep it that way.

"I joined the Fog Troupe because Alibaba and Cassim said they knew you."

"And so did Sinbad." Esra pointed out.

Ino and Hinata who had been silent for the most part looked around the room at all the individuals who claimed to know Sakura. It stands to reason that she must have been in this world longer than they initially thought, now it was a matter of placing exactly what kind of relationship Sakura had with these people for her to act the way she has been recently. They hadn't forgotten about what Sakura told them earlier on about not leaving this world on the 'best terms' with certain people and they happened to be in this country right now.

Hinata and Ino shared a knowing look as they realized the same thing. Without a doubt these were the people Sakura was speaking about. Only unfortunate fate had it that they would happen to meet Esra and Badr.

Hinata whispered to Ino, "What do you think happened?"

"I don' know." Ino whispered back, glancing around the room to make sure no one was watching them. "But we're going to find out. You don't avoid a guy who looks like that," Ino gestured to Sinbad with a curt tip of her head before coming back. "Without a really good reason."

Hinata just shook her head.

Sakura looked over at Alibaba as the boy sat with her children on the floor, along with the young Fanalis girl Morgiana. Soft strides she was in front of them, placing her hands in front of her lap, Sakura lightly bowed to the two.

"Thank you for looking out for my son and daughter."

Morgiana nodded lightly, and Alibaba smiled. "Uh yeah-oh by the way um miss Sakura-I'm-

"Alibaba." The pinkette smiled standing up straight again, "You remind me a lot of your mother, Anise."

It had been years since Alibaba heard anyone say his mother's name and coming from Sakura brought back the memories of those short moments the pinkette was with them in the slums. She had an odd warmth about her. She did not look at them the same way everyone else did. The way she looked at him and all of the children of the slums was the same way she was looking at him right now and that brought everything back in detail.

Sakura stroked the boy's head softly before pulling away. "You sure grew up fast. I can't believe you were that little boy who I was playing capture the flag with."

"Yeah," Alibaba looked down with a light blush on his face.

"So I guess you know the truth now about being a prince?" Sakura crossed her arms over her chest.

"Wait a minute," Sinbad interjected, "You knew about him too? How?"

Sakura shrugged lightly, "The former king of Balbadd might have told me when you weren't around and so did Alibaba's mother."

Sinbad looked away, running his hand over his face and muttering to himself that even after all this time, he was still finding that Sakura was keeping secrets from him but that wasn't really something he wanted to voice with everything else already filling the room with tension. There was still some matters he wanted to address but this was not the right time. It didn't make him any less eager or anxious to announce them though.

Then there was a chorus of ever growing murmurs from the outside, talking of a royal carriage arriving at the end of the road.

"What's going on out there?"

Alibaba and Morgiana immediately went to take a look. And-to Sakura's relief-Sinbad, Ja'far and Masrur followed as well. She didn't however miss the last moment's glance, their eyes met before he walked out. Sakura, Ino, Hinata, Badr and Esra followed soon after.

* * *

Sakura went outside along with Ino, Hinata and her twins. There was a royal carriage that had appeared; one of the guards that Sakura recognised from years ago went to open the carriage; which turned out to be holding an average sized man with black eyes and long dark wavy hair; dressed in fine robes suited for royalty and that's because this man was none other than the Deputy King of Balbadd, the second prince Sahbmad.

Alibaba and Sinbad immediately went to the front of the crowd that had gathered-most whom were on high alert by the appearance; to go and greet him.

"If it isn't Sahbmad." Sinbad greeted him as if he were an old friend. It wasn't that long ago when Sinbad had gone to have a meeting with him and his brother where he had been anything but this hospitable. "It's very brave of you to come out here among all these strangers. You're not here because Ahbmad told you to come are you?"

"No." Ahbmad said, crouching down to the ground, trembling. "I had to come to apologise. I put your life in danger."

"I see. So it was you."

Sakura watched from a distance with the rest of the crowd, she recognised the man from when he was younger. It doesn't seem like he had changed all that much from that one encounter.

"What's he doing here?" Sakura asked.

"You know who that is?" Ino said, although not really all that much surprised anymore.

"He's a member of the royal family of Balbadd, I think he's the second prince. I met him once when he was child." Sakura replied curtly, never taking her eyes off of the men speaking.

As they started to converse, Sakura paid close attention to what was being said.

Apparently, the leak from the military that Sinbad had discussed with them was the deputy king himself. He was also the one who informed the Fog Troupe that Sinbad was going to be hunting them, hence how they knew where to find him at the hotel.

"Sahbmad really did all that?" Alibaba asked.

Sinbad turned to Alibaba, "You didn't know?"

Alibaba looked away, "No…."

"I did it because of Alibaba." Sahbmad said timidly, looking away with a nervous expression. Although what he said did surprise his younger half-brother. "I thought that if Alibaba was leading the Fog Troupe, there might be hope for this country. Alibaba has always be able to do things that I couldn't. I want Alibaba to stop Ahbmad."

"Stop him?" Sinbad asked, holding out his hands in question. "What's so bad about Ahbmad that even his deputy king would choose to support the act of thieves?"

The rest of Sahbmad's explanation followed as to exactly why he would want Ahbmad, his older and 'full' brother to be stopped. It was then he gave the horrific explanation of all that has been happening in this country. It happened when the previous king had fallen sick. A man who called himself Banker had appeared before Ahbmad and offered him financial advice. During a time when trade with Parthevia had come at a standstill, Balbadd's economic situation was in trouble. He then introduced them to huang, a currency used initially by the Kou Empire, with a fixed value. For a while the banker had allowed them to borrow faun without interest but then after the economy became reliant on huang. There was an inflation on the currency and that had caused a loss. Eventually Balbadd had fallen into debt and had to pay back using the rights as collateral.

'The Kou…'

Sakura bit her bottom lip after hearing the Kou had used the paper currency and used as economic standard-especially when…

 _Sakura looked over Koumei's shoulder, as he read through some scrolls. These weren't from his leisurely materials though. They were actual important financial documents. "What are you doing?"_

" _Right now, just figuring out what to do about Kou's financial currency. We need to introduce it to the territories we've expanded on and there's some trouble with this. They refuse to use it because it's considered an 'inside' currency."_

" _You know, where I come from the value of our currency changes constantly, it fluctuates due. It's called inflation. So there's no fixed value."_

" _That's kinda like Huang here." Koumei stated_

 _Sakura nodded and then jokingly added, "You know, you could probably take over a nation just by introducing the currency, since its value is dependent on the country that backs it."_

" _You think so?"_

" _Sure, with paper money the value isn't fixed so people can charge as much as they want and can keep increasing it. If a country other than Kou were dependant on this currency, then because Kou is the supplier of this currency they would evidently fall in debt. Of course I'm pretty sure most would see this ahead of time."_

Taking back to that memory, something definitely did not sit well with Sakura then. What she heard afterwards only made her stomach's pit sink further. She hoped that she hadn't had an informal hand in this. Then again, she and Koumei talked plenty about expansion methods and colonizing of a country on account of their variety of knowledge on the subjects and their different painted intellects that would blend well enough to create new ideas on these matters.

"Despite the country's dire state, the nobles and higher ups were still living well. They wanted more faun but realized that there was no collateral. But then Ahbmad found some….in the people. He's going to use the people's rights as collateral."

Alibaba frowned, "What do you mean by that?"

Sahbmad shook in terror, clutching the side of his heads. "Ahbmad is going to turn Balbadd into a slave production country!" Eyes shut to hide the terror was futile as the deputy king couldn't mask his expression, the sweat running down his face as visible as his shaking form. "Every day Ahbmad spends money like water. The nobles and bureaucrats care about nothing but protecting their luxurious lives so they follow Ahbmad without question."

Morgiana, who had been standing silently the entire time was now tensed to the point of rived stillness, "Deputy King!" Sahbmad looked her way. "Did you come here because you want us to stop Ahbmad's plans?"

The man responded with a curt nod, "Th-That's right."

Morgiana stomped over to Alibaba, placing her hands strongly on his shoulders. "Let's put an end to this madness Alibaba!"

That statement had everyone quickly riled, including the Fog Troupe, the citizens joined with them and all of Alibaba's friends. They turned to the third prince for aid but Alibaba was just as shaken by the news and there was doubt in his eyes as he failed to reply to the voices of the individuals that were looking to him for the solution to this dire situation. This was the consequence of revealing his identity as the prince and therefore ignited the spark of hope in the people; that he would be the one they could turn to in their hour of need.

But Alibaba did not feel he was the best person for this.

Sahbmad then told them that Ahbmad was to marry a Kou princess and when the contract was signed, the people's rights would be handed over to the Kou Empire.

Sinbad then spoke, "I will ask Sindria's allies to submit a formal objection to the government of Balbadd. I'll definitely put an end to Ahbmad's absurd idea to sell his own citizens as slaves."

Watching from the distance, Ino looked back to her pink haired friend with a worried gleam in her face.

"Sakura; what exactly have we just crashed into?"

Sakura was staring at Sinbad's back, but when he turned around, she spoke.

"Trouble."

This was more than just being stuck between a rock and a hard place; Sakura could usually just destroy the rock but right now she was trapped between her kids, Sinbad, Ino, Hinata and a lot of other past individuals that have come out all at once. Everyone was going to need answers and she wasn't sure she could keep them to herself for much longer.

Ino rubbed the back of her head as she watched the commotion around her; it was going straight pass midnight and everyone was still bustling about. Things were enough of a catastrophe getting sent to another world and losing Sakura's children, but now it seemed that everyone that the pinkette knew from this world was coming out of the woodwork. It wouldn't have been such a problem if Ino didn't think her best friend was hiding something else from then. There had been a shift since arriving in Balbadd-rather since bumping into the people she apparently knew from here.

She watched with suspicion as Sinbad walked over to them, but his eyes were fixated only on the pinkette.

"It looks like things are going to get busy here." Sakura commented.

Sinbad nodded seriously, "It does. So before anything else surprises us, can we talk?"

There was a sharp and determined look on Sinbad's face that told Sakura she wasn't going to have much of a choice in the matter.

"Okay…"

..

..

..

..

..

After distinctly telling Esra and Badr to stay close and not wander; Sakura left with Sinbad, Masrur, Ja'far, Hinata and Ino, in an empty room in one of the old buildings, sitting a table, Sakura on one end with her friends and Sinbad on the other with his. As the two were in the centre on either side, it became clear where all focus would lie. There they were expected to be the ones to break the daunting silence and yet they barely moved an inch.

Hinata glanced over the pinkette towards Ino, seeing that she was just as uncomfortable as Hinata was about this situation. Obviously they were both curious for answers but they weren't counting on this kind of awkwardness.

Sinbad looked at Sakura.

Sakura looked at Sinbad.

"So," Sakura started, clenching her fists under the table.

"So…" Sinbad mimicked softly, tensing to keep his feet from shaking under the table.

Ino and Ja'far both interrupted. Ino slammed her hand on the table and Ja'far stepped forward from being Sinbad, realizing that his king wasn't going to be able to take the lead on this one.

"So-can one of you just start talking-

"In actual sentences." Ino finished for Ja'far.

Sakura and Sinbad pulled similar expression and directed them towards their so called friends before turning back to face on another. It was as if the butterflies in their stomach had turned to wasps and were stinging them inside.

Had this been a regular meeting between former partners, then perhaps the atmosphere wouldn't be so heavy everyone else could actually feel it. But this was Sinbad and Sakura; their relationship back then was anything but ordinary and that included their separation. It was a mutually disdained agreement. One that would only prove hazardous should they meet again, but that wasn't possible-at least it wasn't supposed to be.

"Where should I start?" Sakura finally asked.

"Well, I got a briefing beforehand but I'd like to hear on your side how you're here." Sinbad said, arms crossed in a defensive manner, struggling to maintain eye-contact with the pinkette.

"It's a long story."

"We've got some time."

Ino coughed, holding up her hand slightly. "Yeah before we get into that, could we…" Ino gestured between her and Hinata. "Get a little layout of how you all know Sakura? Like a crash course or something?"

The room went silent again and glances were exchanged between Sinbad, Sakura, Ja'far and Masrur.

Starting with introductions, Sakura gestured between everyone in the room as she introduced them. "These are my friends, Hinata Uzumaki and Ino Yamanaka. They're close friends of mine from my village. Ino, Hinata, this is Masrur, Ja'far and….Sinbad." she paused. "They were friends I use to travel with while I was in this world."

There was a brief greeting between the five then and Sakura took that time to catch her breath and attempt to calm her wracking nerves but it was nearly impossible.

"So, you know that we're not from here?" asked Hinata.

Ja'far nodded, his arms neatly folded in the confines of his long sleeves. "Yes."

Sakura looked at Sinbad, "You told them?"

"Everything." Sinbad confirmed, causing the pinkette to swallow heavily.

"There a problem?" Sinbad asked.

Sakura shook her head but she missed when Sinbad muttered 'we'll see about that' but with such a low tone it was barely a whisper.

Sinbad had his arms crossed, a solemn expression on his face. "So you've already explained things to your friends?"

Sakura stretched her bottom lip in a crooked manner and flicked her head. "More or less."

Ino scoffed, "Yeah, we're pending for the full explanation."

"Well perhaps I can help with that," Sakura immediately gave Sinbad pointed look at his suggestive statement. There were certain things in this world she preferred to keep hidden behind the curtain and out of the view of Ino and Hinata, (as well as Badr and Esra). "But before that….There's a few things I would very much like to clarify as well. So Sakura; you can start."

'Oh crap.'

Sakura gave Sinbad more or less the same explanation that Badr and Esra had given to him about how they arrived in this world. The unusual mirror that transported them without warning and Sakura having none of her metal vessels on her because of the circumstances they were under when the occurrence took place. Sakura went as far as explaining that she, Ino and Hinata tracked Esra to Ballbadd.

Sinbad seemed captivated as he listened to her. "I see. But who was the women that appeared before you were transferred back here?"

Sakura's eyes hardened, "It was a member of the royal family of Kou. Gyokuen Ren."

It was like the wrong chord was struck during a solo master piece, what had given way to a story and now leaving a sour taste for the rest of the performance.

"What?" Ja'far asked in disbelief.

"The Kou again…." Sinbad narrowed his eyes.

"I don't know exactly why we were brought back here, but I think it has something to do with Al-Thamen." Sakura said. "Gyokuen mentioned it and also….Falan."

Sinbad inhaled sharply and exchanged a concerned look with Ja'far.

"Falan." Sinbad clenched his jaw, recalling the former Parthevian magician. He had encountered her after Sakura left and it had not gone as pleasantly. It wasn't a day he cared to go back to. Although it was clear now that the Kou Empire was involved with Al-Thamen and knowing that they were responsible for teleporting Sakura back to this world, it made him even more cautious and worried.

For a number of reasons.

"So…they're involved but you don't know their motive?"

Sakura shook her head, her brows creased and forehead drawing worry lines along the often smooth skin. "I know that it has something to do with bringing us here to this world but other than that, I don't know. Do you know anything else about Al-Thamen other than what Falan told us?"

"Let's just say we're aware Al-Thamen's not to be trusted." Sinbad stated. "And the fact that they brought you here without explaining their motive is cause for worry. Not to mention Judar's association with the Kou Empire."

"Speaking of the Kou;" Ja'far interjected, scanning everyone in the room. "How did you get the princess to retreat?"

Save gave the story on how she, Hinata and Ino ended up running into Kougyoku and Judar in the market place. While Sakura was sceptical, she told them that she was surprised to find that Kougyoku was completely oblivious about the matters at hand and Judar even more so because he was completely stunned to see Sakura again.

Sinbad chuckled dryly, "I forget that you had relations with Kou."

Narrowing her eyes, Sakura chose not to comment or they might end up taking the path down that subject and now was not the time for that nor was it appropriate in the time span that it would be pertained to. There was also something far more disconcerting that Sakura was stressing about and ever since seeing Sinbad again, that worry continued to linger above her like a dark phantom that she wanted to rid herself of. Although since it hadn't come up-immediately she stopped train of thought for if it arrived at its destination, Sakura was afraid she might have just tempted fate.

"So," Sakura straightened her posture, aligning her back with the rest of the chair. "What are you doing here in Balbadd?"

* * *

"Move it, will you!"

"Quit shoving me, mini-monster."

Esra shoved her brother lightly to the side, pressing her ear up against the door. On one side, she and Morgiana were piled against the door and on the opposite side was Badr and Alibaba listening in on the 'private' conversation that was of such importance they had to exclude everyone under eighteen. In a moment of natural childish mischief and curiosity, Badr and Esra followed after them and so had Morgiana and Alibaba as they fell for the group dilemma of contagious curiosity.

"What are they saying?" asked Alibaba.

"Shut up so you don't have to ask!" Esra hissed, leaning in closer with Morgiana closely beside her.

* * *

Sinbad's eyes fell on the ring hanging on Sakura's neck, and his eyes softened. Sakura averted her eyes, covering the rings with her hand. She didn't look to her right or left since she was cornered.

"Well, I came here for diplomatic reasons that I needed to take care of with Ahbmad but I found myself drawn into this countries domestic issues that I couldn't simply leave alone. See Balbadd had cut off trade with Sindria, so I came to resolve the problem but then we were told that because of the Fog Troupe it wasn't possible to resume trade. Out of respect for the former king, I chose to become personally involved and to capture the Fog Troupe."

There was evident confusion on Sakura's expression, she remembered the explanation from Badr as well as the message she read about Alibaba being the leader of the Fog Troupe. Some things were not coinciding well. "If that's the case, why are you with the Fog Troupe?"

"Because he's fickle and chose to switch sides." Masrur chided blankly.

Sakura nearly rolled her eyes, it seems that some things never changed. "Why didn't you just use your djinn equip to resolve the problem, as you use to?"

Before Sinbad could defend himself, Ja'far stripped him of his shield. "Because he passed out drunk on the road to Balbadd and was robbed of all his metal vessels."

For the first time since their encounter, Sakura nearly laughed but covered her mouth, pressing her hands against her lips to silence herself and ended up with a small snort.

"Thanks for that Ja'far." Sinbad glared at Ja'far who shrugged. He then turned back to Sakura. "So what are you planning on doing now?"

Another moment of silence fell over before Sakura replied, "Not too sure to be honest. We were busy looking for Badr and Esra after leaving the dungeon, I wasn't able to think that far ahead."

"It's usually your strong suite." Sinbad stated, and Sakura could sense the smile on his face when he did. It was difficult for her to be in his presence-not only him, Ja'far and Masrur not to mention they were all crammed in the same room with Ino and Hinata. This made her feel like she was in the worse position. The only thing that could make this worse was having Badr and Esra here as well.

"Well….We've still got to deal with the situation in Balbadd; but after that I can help you address this problem."

It wasn't a question or offer-it was a statement that couldn't have been clearer to Sakura. It was then she remembered exactly the kind of situation she was in. If she aligned herself with Sinbad again then she would constantly have a blade hanging over her head, ready to crack her skull and let the rest of her secrets fall out.

"I don't think you could-

"One of my generals is a magician, she might be of some help about this. She's an expert in magic." Sinbad told them. "You can come back to my country and I'll help you sort this out."

Blonde eyebrows knitted together, Ino spoke "Wait, you have generals?"

Sinbad nodded, "Yes, eight-two of them are Ja'far and Masrur here."

"Then…you would be…?" Hinata trailed and Sakura bit her bottom lip to stop herself from screaming. She wasn't in rights to stop Sinbad from revealing his identity-she just hoped that was all he would reveal.

Ja'far reintroduced Sinbad; giving in details that Sakura had purposely left out. "He is our leader and King. King Sinbad, the ruler of the country Sindria."

Ino spluttering, pointing at Sinbad. "You're a king?!" Sinbad nodded, she then turned to the pinkette. "Sakura did you know this?"

Sakura sighed, rubbing the corners of her eyes. "Of course I did."

Ino crossed her arms, glaring at the pinkette. "You know a lot of people in high places in this world, yet you haven't thought to go to any of them for help? First it was that princess and now this guy. Why is that?"

"What you mentioned earlier…" Hinata trailed, pertaining to Sakura saying she wanted to avoid certain people in this world.

Sinbad interjected before Sakura could come up with a response. "I might have an idea…."

Sakura looked back at him, their eyes met and held and something sunk from Sakura's throat to the pit of her stomach at Sinbad's sudden change in expression, even Ja'far and Masrur's aura's seemed to change.

"There's actually one more topic I need to address-or rather two."

It was as if her heart stopped.

Sakura swallowed heavily, "What is it?"

"The real reason you didn't reach out for help…." Sinbad took a moment to gather his thoughts in confronting the last thing he thought he ever would have to. "I might have a pretty good and also somewhat terrifying hypothesis as to why you would want to avoid everyone you know in this world." Sinbad clasped his hands together tightly, his knuckles turned white. Sakura felt as if her entire body had just been covered with a blanket of discomfort, urging her to fidget but she did not want to move an inch. The scenario was that of prey facing off with predator, one false move and they'll go for blood. And Sinbad was aiming for the jugular.

"I highly doubt that Sinbad." Sakura stated, attempting to stand her ground, even though she was standing in a sink pit.

As the prey took a step back, the predator took a leap forward. "It's been what….almost **ten** years since you were here right?"

Sakura's body stiffened; like prey attempting to play dead before fleeing but forgot that some predators liked to play with their food.

"And the last night when before you left when we said our goodbyes, the moon was what, half-new-quarter?" Sinbad continued until he heard Sakura's breath hitch sharply. Her eyes slightly widened as it dawned on her and that was all the confirmation Sinbad needed to know that the theory that had been, robbing him of his calm interior was about to reveal the answer.

"You know…don't you?" It felt more like a statement to Sakura than a question it had come out as.

Ino frowned, "Know what?"

"Sakura?" Hinata trailed but there was no response as it seemed that she and Ino became little more than ornaments in the room to Sakura.

"So…" Ja'far trailed narrowing his eyes. "It is true."

"You're surprisingly calm though…I thought you'd have more of a reaction." Sakura stated evenly.

Sinbad gave a humorless and short laugh, forcing it out to lighten the tension in vain. "I already had my episode. So don't worry about that." Sinbad then rubbed his temples, stretching his skin back and forth around his forehead but that did little to relieve the strain he felt.

"You're calm too Ja'far." Sakura said looking back to the young man.

"He tried to strangle me last night with his cords," Sinbad deadpanned, looking back at Sakura.

That was certain; last night was not peaceful for ether of them. Sinbad nearly passed out when he realized the high possibility and yet he wanted to hold onto the thought that this might have been a misunderstanding or miscalculation and that their theory was wrong, it was one of the reasons Sinbad was so anxious to see Sakura again; to get the final confirmation and now that he has….

Sinbad looked away for a moment before meeting Sakura's gaze again; he exhaled heavily, his head hung low a second and then straightened again. Then Sakura sighed in defeat but did not hang her head despite the urge to look away; she kept starring straight into those golden orbs.

"How did you figure it out?"

"I literally put two and two together." Sinbad stated dully.

She sighed again, "As expected of you…."

Ino then chided in, "Um, what's this about?"

Sinbad looked back at Ino and Hinata and then to Sakura. "You didn't tell anyone did you?"

Sakura shook her head, "Couldn't possibly."

"I do get that." Sinbad admitted, "And I'm not angry or anything like that. Just stunned."

The constant blurry curtain around their choice of words that made this conversation so vague was beginning to also cause an itch of annoyance and Ino wanted to tear it down.

"Okay look," Ino stood up from her seat in an attempt to tower over everyone although that was impossible considering who was in the room. "We might be a little late to this party, but Hinata and I have gone through hell along with Sakura. We've been transported to another world without warning, we haven't seen our husbands or children in a month and we have no idea how to get back home and everyone acting so damn aloof right in front of us isn't helping any! So it would be appreciated if you could brief Hinata and I, on this story so that we can all be on the same damn page, since we're all stuck in the same chapter!"

Again there was silence but within it, the gazes reached a consent and Sakura finally broke the silence. After contemplating, she decided that this was the time. There was no use to keeping it a secret now that it had already been figured out.

"Alright, one more introduction." Sakura said looking at Sinbad who gave a brief nod.  
"….Ino, Hinata….this is Sinbad."

Ino frowned, "Sakura we already know that, why are you introducing him again."

Sakura clenched her fists tightly, "Because there's something I didn't tell you about Sinbad."

"What is it, Sakura?" asked Hinata.

"What did you tell us? Aside from the fact that he's a king?" Ino honestly didn't believe there was anything that could beat that revelation.

She soon found she was wrong.

The conquered of the seven seas chose to introduce himself then; his posture seemed straighter, his brought shoulders perfectly aligned and his chin raised strongly in a manner that demanded complete focus and attention on him alone.

"I'm also the father of Badr and Esra."

Everything went silent, inside the room and on the other end of the door and then something echoed through Balbadd's foggy night.

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!"

* * *

 **DONE!**

 **Well that's it everyone. I wanted to wait until my exams were over before I posted this chapter but I loved the reviews I was getting, I thought I'd give you one more before I went into study-mode hibernation for the next few weeks. I really do have a lot to get done. Don't worry, I'll be back eventually. And in the meantime….**

 **DON'T FORGET TO REIVEW**


	15. Present: Resolve

**Hello everyone! Well my exams have finally come to an end and I am happy to be returning. Right after my exams though, my computer crashed and had to be taken in, now I got it back but there's a problem and it's going to be taken away again so I thought before then, I would update my story. I hope that you all enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

"What the-Mphhh!"

On the other side of the door where Alibaba, Morgiana, Esra, and Badr stood the conversation that they were listening to seemed to take a surprise turn that they weren't ready to make, thus while Ino and Hinata's simultaneously loud voice of exclamations took place; Alibaba and Morgiana had the sense to bite their own tongues then move behind Badr and Esra to cover their mouths and make them bit theirs before dragging them away from the door, through the hallways and further into the building. Although they wouldn't be able to listen in on any more of the conversation, they knew that this was the best course of action as the twins were about ready to throw out their own exclamations of questioning disbelief and they needed to be out of an earshot.

Alibaba struggled with Badr in his hold, covering the boy's mouth tightly and the other wrapped around his arms to restrain him, he looked at Morgiana who was in the same position with Esra.

"The roof?"

She nodded.

* * *

While back inside the room, the six adults remained unaware of the four that were listening in on them; being too preoccupied with the thick cover of information and secrets that were revealed to them by Sakura and Sinbad. There was as Ino paced up and down the room with frantic haste, biting her fingers while resisting the urge to bite her well-manicured nails off.

After Sinbad's statement, both Ino and Hinata suddenly forgot how to balance themselves on their seats and fell from them, then after gathering themselves, Hinata fixed herself back on the chair but Ino just couldn't bring herself to be still in that moment and resorted to pacing.

Ino then swiped her hand through her long blonde hair and looked back to the group at the table, sucking in a breath.

Ino pointed to Sakura and then Sinbad, "So, so, so, so, you're saying that you and him were-were-were-were-were-

Sakura nodded, understanding Ino's implications towards her and Sinbad. "Yes."

"And-And you're-you're really, Badr and Esra's?" Hinata stuttered, pointing a shaking finger at Sinbad who nodded to her.

"That's' right. "

"And-And that means that you and him and you and her…." Ino pointed between Sakura and Sinbad, "Use to-to-to-to-to-to-to-to-

"Every chance we got," Sinbad confirmed with a slight smile.

Ino stopped walking around for a moment, looked over at the table and then covered her face with her hands.

"HOLY MOTHER OF GOD!"

Not missing the hint of arrogance on top of that word, Sakura gave Sinbad a deadpan expression. To which was met with a familiar smug smile and in that instant, Sakura was able to see a fraction of the teenage Sinbad. "Thanks for that."

"You're welcome."

Hinata had been quiet for the most part, internalizing her surprise although she was light headed and no less struck than Ino was. This had been the most sought-after answer revolving around their group of friends for years and after some time it had simmered but suddenly someone had thrown a new batch of questions into that pyre and gave rise to more questions.

"Now I understand why you didn't tell anyone who the father was," Hinata said. "He's from this world."

Sakura nodded, crossing her arms tightly across her chest, "Exactly; I knew you guys would want a mile if I gave you an inch. The less you knew the better in this case."

"I'm going to take it that you haven't told your children either," Ja'far stated.

"What would have been the point right?"

Sinbad closed his eyes for a moment longer than needed and looked back, "Yeah, I can see the logic in your wanting to keep me a secret from them. Also why you wouldn't want to seek out my help when you came to this world."

Ino finally stopped pacing and moved back to the table, seating herself as she took another large gulp of air. Her head was still throbbing from the shocking news as her heart was racing and her stomach was still attempting to raise itself to its initial place. "Well, now it all makes sense."

"What exactly would that be?" Sakura asked, raising her eyebrow towards Ino.

"Why you would make the decision to give it up to…." Ino made a circular swiping motion with her palm, holding her hand up in the direction of Sinbad.

As the heating feeling hit her face, Sakura covered it with both hands and Hinata herself blushed beet red. The two girls simultaneously exclaimed at their friend.

"INO!"  
She heard Sinbad give a chuckle. Savoring the growth of his ego at the expense of Sakura's humility.

"It's not funny." Sakura sneered.

"Yes, nothing about this situation is," Ja'far stated, his chest heaving up and his eyebrows furrowed deeply enough to show the lines on his forehead. "The two of you have children! The two of you!"

"Why do I feel like that's meant to be an insult?" Sinbad asked, directing his question at Sakura.

"Because there's three of you now and that thought takes some time to sink," Sakura stated. Her tone bordered from experience. There were even times Sakura had to stop herself from calling Badr Sinbad whenever the boy did something closely related to what his father use to do and Sakura use to chastise him for.

Sinbad frowned, "Hey, last I checked I only filled half of that gene pool."

Sakura glared half-heartedly at Sinbad. "Yeah well, apparently my genetics were crushed by the remnants of your ego your genes carried. Thus they were the submissive genes."

"It's not my fault you preferred being the on the bottom." Sinbad raised his hands up as if in surrender. Meanwhile, it was clear to their onlookers that the battle was just beginning.

"That's because you last half your time otherwise," Sakura replied snidely, wanting to play the same game as Sinbad and on the same platform.

Ja'far slapped his forehead, "Oh my-

"Oh, thirty minutes wasn't enough?"

"Sakura!"

"Sin!"

"What it's true she-

"Oh please like you-

"Okay, that's enough information!" Hinata exclaimed, jumping out of her seat. Ino's hand was hiding her mouth that had a wide open smile as she was actually struck speechless.

"Oh, yeah this is all making so much sense now," Ino said swinging her wrist around in a circular motion as she held back from choking on her laughter. Having overcome the general shock.

Sinbad scoffed softly, "You insinuate that they're like me. But those kids actually greeted me the same way you did when we first met. I should've figured out Esra was your daughter after I saw the size of the crater she left in the ground when she attacked me."

Sakura raised her eyebrow, resting her chin near her neck. "She doesn't do that unless you provoke her."

"If she's like her mother; that means anything I say can do that. Right?" Sinbad asked, leaning back into the chair.

"They started." Masrur murmured over to Ja'far, who hit his forehead in disbelief.

"That's because I trained her to detect egotistical, perverted, arrogant, ass-

Ja'far quickly stepped in, his arms held out as if it would form a barrier between Sakura and Sinbad. "Okay, that's enough! Seriously, it's only been a few minutes since we started talking and you two are already falling back into your old dynamics!"

Ino leaned over to Hinata, "So long as she doesn't fall back into the one that got her pregnant."

Said two in question turned away from one another abruptly.

"Look, there is a lot of things going on right now. We cannot manage it all." Ja'far stated, counting softly in his mind to calm himself. "So, can we discuss this and get our priorities in order please?"

Sinbad looked back at Sakura and she did the same, the two met an agreement barely nodding their heads before turning to their comrades and friends. Sakura to Ino and Hinata and Sinbad to Ja'far and Masrur.

"Get out."

"What?" Ino, Ja'far, Masrur, and Hinata asked together.

Sakura pointed to the door, "You heard us-out. If this is something we need to talk about, we're doing it in private without any side comments."

"And no eavesdropping," Sinbad warned.

* * *

Alibaba and Morgiana successfully dragged Badr and Esra onto the roof of the building where they were situated and thus only released them before standing at the door to make sure they couldn't go back.

"What the heck was that for?!" they asked together.

"You two were about ready to kick that door down," Alibaba stated as if it was the full explanation but it wasn't satisfactory for the young twins.

"SO?!" They asked as if there was no reason for them to think about what actions would have taken place after what they heard.

"So; you would've gone in, in a complete rage demanding answers and an explanation. Whether you like it or not we don't believe that is the best way to go." Morgiana said.

"Who the hell cares?!" Esra exclaimed throwing her hands out, her breathing heavy with disbelief. "How the heck would you feel if you just found out the strange man you almost clobbered during the first meeting turns out to be the father you never knew about!?"

Alibaba winced as Esra stomped her foot into the rooftops ground and cracked it with her strength, "Look just calm down."

Badr looked at them in disbelief, only further riled by the incomprehensible suggestion due to circumstance. "CALM DOWN?"

"Yes, calm down," Alibaba repeated, his eyes hardening as he shifted on his feet to strengthen his stance at the door incase Badr or Esra decided to charge for it. Sure enough, they started moving forward to the door but Morgiana strengthened her stance as well, spreading her legs to further barricade the exit to the roof, her fists tightly clenched.

"Out of the way Morg," Esra ordered.

"Not until you calm down."

"You do not want to confront them when you're like this. You might end up saying or doing something you'll regret later." Alibaba attempted to reason but it seemed that it was still too soon for that based on Badr's response.

Badr laughed dryly, throwing his head back his shoulders wracking wildly at the force of his cackle before he turned back to Alibaba, a wide smirk on his face although it was out of context. "Oh of course not. I was just going to calmly open the door to let them know that we now know the truth about the father our mother has kept from us our whole lives!"

"And I was going to confront the man who obviously figured out he was our father literally yesterday and smack him for pretending like he didn't know who we were!" Esra sneered.

Both siblings were too preoccupied with their own individual parent they decided to target that they didn't even comment on each other's choices.

"See this," Alibaba gestured between Badr and Esra. "Is the reason you're not getting off this roof. At least not for now. You need to take a step back and breathe, maybe count to ten or-

"Ten!"

Esra and Badr too another threatening step towards their friends, warning them to yield but that wasn't happening.

"Listen," Alibaba held out his hand, relaxing his form a little. "I know how you guys feel. I didn't know who my father was either and my mother never talked much about him either. She even lied and told me that was because she didn't know who my father actually was and that used to make me angry too because I couldn't have a 'normal family'. And when my father showed up after my mother passed away, I was upset then too. 'I thought; why didn't he show up when my mother was still here, he could've saved her.' But I didn't and I'm glad because at the end I realized that it doesn't matter because I finally managed to let go of this anger-that I know you're both feeling.

I was able to do that because as long as she was here; my mother loved me and was always there for me. And my father told me himself that he had loved my mother too, only that there were obligations that kept them apart. Think carefully, you've got to understand that your parents obviously had obligations of their own. You can't just lash out like this."

The suggestion seemed to cross into the twin's minds as they started thinking on the reasoning behind all of this and their own circumstances fell into consideration as it dawned on them that they were literally in another world.

"Do you really want to say something to hurt your parents just because you're upset?"

With the rain of reasoning that Alibaba managed to provide, the flames of the twins pent up anger started to extinguish and seeing this, Alibaba and Morgiana felt it safe to move away from the door and to the two ten year olds who looked like they were in desperate need of comfort.

The four shared in an awkward group hug and then laid themselves down on the rooftop to look at the stars as the mist had finally cleared. They positioned themselves on their backs, with the top of their heads facing one another.

"So; what do we do now?" asked Esra.

There was no answer but the four knew that they wouldn't be able to leave that roof until they came up with one.

* * *

Sakura shifted in her seat starring at the king of the seven seas; she didn't think it was possible for him to be more intimidating and somehow she regretted telling her friends to leave them alone. That moment the atmosphere changed, and it became more cramped. Hearts clenched painfully with every beat and pumping of blood. The noise of the background became a source of comfort. Both barely moving as if observing one another in a dangerous stand-off.

"Badr and Esra….I am flattered you named them after my parents," Sinbad said, staring at the indentations and cracks on the table, a small smile on his face, his eyes hidden behind his bangs.

Seconds went by in crushing silence, but Sakura finally replied. "I remember…..you were told you looked like your parents and when they were born, they looked like you. So I just thought it suited them."

By the end of her explanation, Sakura had a small but visible smile on her face and that was the only sign Sinbad needed to clear a path through the tension and allow him to speak.

"It's good to see you again," Sinbad said after some time had passed once again. Relived that he was finally able to say it to her; for whatever reason, he couldn't get the words out before.

Unsure of how to react appropriately being in a situation she was completely oblivious to. Sakura bit her bottom lip, holding her response, giving a subtle nod.

"Sorry," Sakura mumbled turning her head, before Sinbad could ask for what, she replied. "For what I said earlier…..I just-I couldn't think of anything proper to say. I don't even know why I said that really-It was inappropriate and I-usually I just-

Sinbad couldn't stop himself from snickering. He actually enjoyed being reprimanded by her like that; the only one who did that to him these days was Ja'far but Sakura had still been the only women he had been with to call him up on everything he did. It was a reminder she was there for him. He was someone who hardly ever use to question his actions in the past until he made ones that gravely affected him. So to have someone like her as his anchor back then was more than helpful. The only thing he failed to realize was that by making her his anchor all the time, he was drowning her.

Without warning or time to react, a warmth enveloped Sakura's entire hand that was resting on the table; Sinbad started spreading his thumb across the top, feeling her smooth skin under his touch. As if to remind himself that she was not a dream, but truly here before him. He knew he probably shouldn't have done that when he felt her flinch a little but did not let go.

"Relax, Sakura. There's no need to be so nervous, it's just me." Sinbad flashed a bright smile which she softly returned, however wary it seemed.

A brief moment of reminiscence came to her as she pulled away from his hold, the golden eyes and the man that would take away all of her worries in an instant, creating a barrier that nothing could break through. "….So what do you want to do about this?"

Sinbad looked on in thought, "Well I'm not entirely sure since I don't really know how to deal with a situation like this…." It suddenly became a little harder for him to breathe and Sinbad wanted to lighten the weight on his chest. "You know I find it hard to believe that, a few weeks ago when I woke up in Sindria, I was a single man ruling his country contently-Now I'm in Ballbadd and I'm the father of twins and a spearhead for a group of fugitives."

"Single?" Sakura raised her eyebrows at him, a trickle of boldness broke through the gates of her insecurities when she asked the question, "Aren't you already married by now with children? Or at least have concubines?"

Sinbad appeared more appalled than shocked at Sakura's inclination. "No! How bad do you think I am?"

"On a scale of one to ten-at least thirty," Sakura stated.

"I am not married nor do I have any…concubines," Sinbad stated. Unable to hide the irritation of this thoughts as they ran through his tone.

Sakura chuckled, holding her hands together. "You don't have to lie to me, Sinbad. It's been ten years and I know you….well enough."

Sinbad shook his head, "I don't have concubines-yes I will admit I have gone back to my 'old habits' but nothing of the sort you are assuming."

Again she sighed, feeling deflated if not deterred and disturbed by the relief that filled her upon hearing that Sinbad was yet to hold someone in the same affiliation and light that he once held Sakura in. She knew that it was wrong because of the time that passed and that it was her who had aimed for them to go their separate ways and that included leading different lives-but she wanted his to be a happy-no-a great life. For that, as a king, he had obligations that he needed to fulfill but at this point in time, she did not want to get into an argument with him about this. Because despite her previous statement about 'knowing him'; ten years was more than enough time to change a man so much so that he might become unrecognizable even to those who could read him like a map.

"Sorry; it's not really my place to ask things like this anymore."

"No, it's not." Sinbad said surely, "But since you already have, could I be inclined to ask the same?"

Sakura raised her eyebrow, "Are you asking me if I'm married?"

Sinbad nodded and Sakura shook her head, snickering lightly in a manner that Sinbad once found endearing. "Nothing of the sort."

"What about Sasuke?"

There was silence again and Sakura's smile vanished as she contemplated on how to word her next statement with Sinbad. Before she left, these subjects were difficult to translate to Sinbad without wounding him and even though it shouldn't have mattered now; she still wanted to be careful with her answer.

"Well, he's finally back," Sakura said evenly, but Sinbad could see that she was trying too hard to behave indifferent. "Not very often at home but he's back."

In a way, Sinbad was content to hear that. Part of the reason she had left was because she didn't want to leave the responsibility of Sasuke on her friend Naruto; so he wasn't completely disoriented to hear that their separation wasn't for nothing. Of course, he knew that there was far more drive to her leaving than simply that. She wanted to get away from him, she said that she needed to no matter how she felt about him.

"I see." Sinbad waited another minute before he said anything again. "To the matter of what we should do….Speaking bluntly; I don't think that we should tell Badr and Esra under the circumstances."

Sakura nodded in agreement; almost too quickly. The circumstances were especially taxing on her thoughts; she wouldn't be able to predict how Badr and Esra may react to this and they were already dealing with Balbadd's current issues, it would make for an even more bitter meal to swallow down if they added their own drama to the recipe.

And there were going to be a lot if the truth was revealed.

"So we both agree then, we keep this from them?" Sakura asked, needing verbal confirmation.

Sinbad nodded, "Yes. But I do still believe that you all should come to Sindria after this. I was serious; I will help you get back home."

Sakura; feeling that there was really nothing more of conversation to be made between the two-who could clearly see now that they were alone the rift that distance and time had placed between them; responded briefly and then took her leave.

"Alright."

* * *

The turn of events from the night had continued to replay in everyone's minds throughout the night that no one was able to get a proper rest. Sakura hadn't seen Badr or Esra since then but Alibaba and Morgiana told her they were camping with them in the room that Aladdin was occupying in case their friend woke up. Sakura didn't question it at the time because she herself was disoriented about the nights events and therefore didn't catch on that Alibaba and Morgiana were covering for the twins who were not ready to face their mother without the possibility of an outburst.

Ino and Hinata were eagerly waiting for their pink-haired friend to arrive and give them the details of the 'private' conversation; all she explained to them then was the decision she and Sinbad had decided on regarding their children. Sinbad told Ja'far and Masrur the same thing.

* * *

The following morning though when Sakura went to check up on Aladdin and diagnose his condition for improvement, as well as avoid Ino and Hinata as the girls were still in a state of shock and wanted nothing more than to feed their curiosity on the topic that Sakura thought died out a long time ago. When Sakura opened the door, she saw that the only one in that room was Alibaba. Morgiana, Esra, and Badr had already left.

Alibaba was sitting, on a chair on the side of the bed, slumped forward, clenching his fists as his arms rested on his legs. Aladdin unconscious in front of him, barely seeming to breathe.

Sakura paused at the door as she listened to Alibaba speak to Aladdin in a low tone as if he was awake. Informing him about what happened last night with his brother's appearance and what he told them.

"This country really does need saving. Someone needs to do something. But…." Alibaba straightened himself in his seat, but his posture did not mirror signs of improvement to his mood. "Am I really that person? I've been trying really hard since I came back to Balbadd, but nothing I've done has gone well. You still keep believing in me, but I think you might've been wrong."

Looking to the wooden ceiling, near the window where the sun shone dimly through, Alibaba's eyes glistened as if he was ready to cry and a bitter smile on a face as he spoke. "There are real heroes in this world. Like King Sinbad…He's so amazing. He was able to rally the Fog Troupe with ease. I'm nothing compared to him."

The creaking of the door caught Alibaba's attention before the voice that followed after, "Then don't be like him."

Alibaba gasped, his head snapping to the side to catch a glimpse of the pinkette coming in. Sakura stood beside Alibaba.

"Miss Sakura…" Although he was shocked, Alibaba was also relieved that the women decided to reveal herself because he was just about to talk to Aladdin about their discovery last night while they were listening in on the adult's private conversation regarding Badr and Esra's origins.

Sakura looked down at Aladdin as he laid unconscious, "You shouldn't do that. Compare yourself to others and you'll only end up doubting your own worth. Especially when you're comparing yourself to Sinbad."

Alibaba looked down, smiling sadly. "I guess you're right; it's not as if I could even compare to him."

"That's not what I meant," Sakura stated, moving to the side she crouched down to meet Alibaba's eyes. "You shouldn't compare yourself to Sinbad because you think he's flawless but that isn't true at all."

Alibaba's eyes widened. He knew that Sinbad and Sakura had a relationship with one another and obviously she would know him more intimately than most would. "But he is amazing. He created his own country in a single generation, he conquered seven dungeons, he's known world-wide as one of the greatest men in existence."

Sakura snickered dryly, folding her arms. "But what do you know about Sinbad? Other than what the legends of his stories have told you? Yes, there are truths but only those who have been there understood everything. The motive, the drive, the actions, everything that lies beneath the surface of that greatness Sinbad has been covered in."

"What are you saying?" Alibaba asked.

Sakura held herself, she was a part of Sinbad's past and he was a part of hers, a past better left then and there. She wouldn't bring it back simply to reassure the Balbadd prince nor to rectify his view towards Sinbad because she did not disagree with Alibaba's praise for Sinbad. He was someone to admire to this day, but she knew what it had taken for him to get there.

"I'm just saying that everyone has their own faults and moments of doubt-even him. I was actually a lot like you too and all it took was one person to believe in me to change that." Sakura ran her hand through Alibaba's hair comfortingly, massaging his scalp. She then looked over at Aladdin. "If he-your friend believes in you; that should be enough. And don't put yourself in someone else's shadow, less you've seen everything they have because that's the only way you'll really know where you stand in comparison to them."

Sakura paused, "When the time comes, you'll act on your own accord and you'll realize you were capable of far more than you initially believed."

There was a knock on the door before the creaking of the old hinges as Ja'far opened it to see the two standing around Aladdin. "Sinbad wants to have a meeting Alibaba." He then looked at the pinkette. "Are you coming?"

Sakura shook her head; she already knew the just of what was going to be discussed in that meeting and it was going to involve the Kou; a front row seat at this point wasn't necessarily the best for Sakura who had been placed in the light last night already. So she excused herself to checking on Aladdin's condition and thankfully, Ja'far let her be and he didn't hear the sigh of relief she released when he left.

The pinkette placed a hand over her heart, the stress and anxiety beginning to flutter through her again. 'Calm down, calm down.'

The matter of tending to Aladdin wasn't as tedious or time consuming as Sakura might have made it out to be but it granted her the moments she needed to gather her thoughts. A string of familiarity ran through Sakura as she observed the young boy and magi known as Aladdin. The rukh around him fluttered softly, like an adult around a sleeping child. It was as if all the elements of the room was trying its best to remain tranquil to allow the struggling boy to rest easier; the sun shone dimly through the room offering enough light to see but not enough to be a nascence to sight, there was a light breeze to cool the skin and fatigue.

It not only seemed to be good for Aladdin but Sakura as well as she rested in the chair Alibaba previously sat while venting gently to Aladdin his discontent with the situation in Balbadd. This was more than any of them were bargaining for as individuals and the circumstances of their situations was what evidently brought them all together like this. Sakura couldn't quite place how she felt about it though. She was now reunited with her children but at the cost of exposing her enigmas.

In that moment, Sakura honestly and truly believed the situation could not become any worse.

With her hand held out in front of her, Sakura flexed her fingers as if this normal act was something enticing. For what felt like an hour, she stayed in that position starring solemnly and somewhat lost at her own hand as she recollected nothing in particular but small flashes of the past that she had been running from.

Sakura smiled bitter; thinking she must have gotten a little too lax and that was why her past was catching up to her like this before she could blink. Its hand brushing against her neck attempting to wrap its fingers around her and choke take what little of herself she had left that world with and gained back in hers but she wouldn't allow it.

'No' she closed her fists tightly, in a manner one would when preparing to punch. 'I won't give in, not like this.'

The door then opened, Ino and Hinata walked in. They had just come from the meeting with Sinbad, Alibaba, Morgiana, Masrur, and Ja'far. Sinbad had done most of the talking, where he discussed The Kou Empire and their goals in spreading their influence to other nations as they have throughout the years but Sakura already knew this. They also had five dungeon capturers among their ranks. Sinbad also explained to them what a magi was.

"So, I take it that the meeting was very informative?" Sakura asked.

Hinata and Ino nodded together, coming beside their friend to look at Aladdin although their thoughts were focused mainly on the pinkette next to them.

"So we're going to stick around and help them out huh?"

With a hard cough, Sakura nodded. Badr and Esra were clearly already involved with this situation and it was personal on account of their friends who required their assistance. She knew they wouldn't want to leave things as they were and personally while it wasn't appealing, Sakura wouldn't have been able to stop herself from helping in this case either. Not after what she heard last night.

"All of this is really a lot to take in," Hinata said, "This world….you're involvement."

Sakura snickered, "Yeah, I wouldn't believe it either but I think I have the worst luck sometimes."

"Yeah, Sakura; I gotta say your life's a lot more complicated than we thought." Ino bluntly stated, shifting on her feet to tip her weight to her other side. "To think Badr and Esra's father turns out to be a king; we've all come up with a lot of theories but this was not one of them. On top of that, you've had one heck of a life going on here before huh?"

Frowning, Sakura's fist clenched on its own account without her even noticing the way her fingernails dug into her skin trying to break it. Her friends knew of most of her troubles and struggles back in her world because they had endured most of it together but it was different here and Sakura couldn't' help the trickle of irritation that ran through her.

"It wasn't anything like you're thinking Ino." That lone statement was enough to make Ino and Hinata drop their smiles. Although Sakura didn't say any more on the matter it was clear that there was nothing of content for Sakura while she obviously reminisce her time in this world before and they wished then that they could read her mind.

Sakura didn't want to bring up the difficulties and ordeals this world had put her through, good and bad this was a reality and there was truly nothing harsher than that. Especially when you had to face a reality that you were not meant to be a part of.

"Just because this world doesn't have ninja…." Sakura felt her fingers break her skin, but she held a still expression. "Doesn't mean it's peaceful or pleasant."

* * *

Badr and Esra had woke up early that morning, they spent a few hours with Morgiana and Alibaba but as they came to realize it was going to be time for them to face either Sakura or Sinbad, they discretely as possible withdrew themselves from their new friends and moved to a more isolated area of the building. Overlooking the scenery that was the country on the verge of becoming a slave farm. It had been agreed on that neither Badr nor Esra would confront Sinbad and Sakura about the truth they had discovered until this matter in Balbadd was resolved. They weren't wholeheartedly for the idea but there was enough justification to appeal to their logic after some hours had passed and their lust of rage that clouded their judgment was dimmed but like the questions, they yearned for; it was still there within them. Like warm embers ready to spark up again if fuelled correctly.

"I have to say, this just all seems like a dream."

"Good or bad?" Esra asked her brother.

"I'm not sure."

Esra shifted on her side to face her brother as he laid face up towards the sky as they had last night, watching the stars for hours. So many would claim that star gazing was a wonderful hobby but to them any leisurely activity that involved sitting still for as long as an hour was not 'leisurely' or an 'activity' but a waste of time. As one stared at nothing; unless they got lost in their own thoughts. Then that was time well spent.

"So, we agree. We don't tell mom we know until after we help Alibaba?"

Badr gave a small noise in acknowledgment, he was still lost in the thoughts of last night. There was a lot he wanted to confront his mother about and at the same time he was yet to gather himself to list the question properly as he wanted to. He wanted to make sure that he and Esra kept to the high ground on this matter as they felt they were in this position.

"Do you really think she would have ever told us the truth?"

Esra shrugged, "Honestly, who knows. This is just…..I can't even describe it."

"All those times I pictured finally hearing the truth about our dad, I didn't think that 'royalty' and 'another world' was going to be part of the package." Badr attempted to lamely lighten the mood but I was clear after he spoke that he had failed.

That was all the more reason not to mention this to their mother; Esra told Badr. She too wanted an explanation, but at the same time, she was trying to understanding as Alibaba suggested the severity and position that Sakura must have been placed in because of all these external factors revolving around them and their parents. Right now both Badr and Esra were leading themselves down a path with an end question that they were yet to confront and had only recently developed. Graciously it hadn't sunken in yet and they were still too far to see it.

"So this is where the two of you were."

Bodies stiffened at the new presence on the roof, Esra moving to stand up and greet her mother but Badr stood up only to move further to the end of the roof, readying to take a leap. Esra's eyes darted up to Sakura's before averting again as the pinkette wrapped her daughter in a soft hug.

"What have you two too been up to?"

"Nothing much," Esra replied, forcing a smile on her face. It felt heavy.

Sakura smiled back, kissing Esra's forehead. "I'm glad the both of you are alright. I missed you so much."

Badr's jaw tightened painfully as he overlooked the scenery. "Yeah."

Then when Badr caught sight of a bright blonde, he knew that this was the target he needed to take his leap. "I'm going with Alibaba, I'll see you later."

Sakura reached out, calling her son's name but he had already taken the jump and was running off to meet up with Alibaba who was heavily striding away towards the city.

"Did I miss something?" Sakura asked herself but Esra looked away and moved to the entrance. Saying she was going to look for Morgiana and check on Aladdin, giving her mother yet another smile of emptiness before leaving.

Sakura frowned.

'Something doesn't feel right.'

* * *

Sinbad had kept Alibaba back after ending the initial meeting to talk about the Kou Empire and their intentions for Balbadd. He wanted to speak to Alibaba alone about what should be done and what he's role in this resolve could be. Sinbad pointed that Balbadd would always be in danger of falling into the Kou Empire's control as long as Ahbmad was king and that the best solution was for Alibaba to take the throne and become king. However, Alibaba protested against Sinbad's suggestion. He couldn't even get a proper audience with Ahmad and yet he was expected to somehow rally the people behind him and overthrow his older brother to become king?

'That just isn't possible.'

 _"Alibaba do you believe that people are born to fulfill certain destinies?"_

That was what Sinbad had asked him, following with the belief that Morgiana and so many others had in him to save this country and even after that and with what Sakura had said to him, Alibaba still couldn't find it in him to truly take in those beliefs and claims.

When Alibaba had left the building, Badr followed after him but the two were just walking in silence all around Balbadd for nearly the entire day; both trapped by the past. They wondered through the slums that was starting to fill as people headed to their homes and shelters, the grounds scattered and cracked from neglect, there were flimsy clothes pitched against buildings to act as cover for some people who would curl under them at night. This was the life of those who had been abandoned by their government. The sun was a golden tinge reaching its climax and soon it would be gone.

Badr and Alibaba stopped at the end of a bridge to look over, leaning down to stare at their own pitiful reflections.

"There's no way I can do this," Alibaba said. "I can't become king."

Badr was silent. He hadn't spoken to Alibaba and visa versa for nearly the whole day and this was the first thing he had heard the blonde say since.

"Why do you say that?" Badr asked back, blankly starring at his own reflection.

"I just know that I can't. To take on a role like that….I'm not prepared; I couldn't even hold a meeting with Ahbmad and I'm expected to somehow overthrow him? Sinbad says that this is what everyone believes I am destined for."

Badr held a stoic expression; he didn't even flinch at the mention of Sinbad's name and Alibaba wasn't able to apologize for bringing him up because the boy spoke first. "But you wanted to save this country right? That's what you worked for all this time; it was why you captured a dungeon."

"Yeah…." Alibaba trailed. "But I didn't realize just what that entailed."

Badr sighed, "You were hiding behind a mask all this time; I think you've gotten used to it now you're worried because you're out in the open and you can't hide anymore. But it's too late to go back now. You're just going to have to start facing everything head on."

When the sound of crying filled the area, Alibaba looked away from his reflection in the water, to a women sitting under a tarp on the street with two of her children, one of which was sobbing loudly; their limbs were like straws and their faces hollow.

"I remember living like that with my mother and Cassim."

"And soon it'll be worse if this place is turned into a slave farm," Badr stated, breaking Alibaba from his nostalgic trance. "That is if you decide to do nothing."

"What would you do?" Alibaba asked, "If you were in this situation like me. Would you use your influence as royalty? Since you're Sinbad's son? Even though you weren't raised to rule a country?"

Badr's lips seemed to seal and for a moment Alibaba thought he might have triumphed by reveling in that fact that he and Badr could've easily been in the same position but Alibaba did not realize that Badr's world had offered him lessons. Some in terms of leadership.

"Blood isn't what makes leadership," Badr stated. "It's hard work and determination. Even the most hopeless can achieve something great as long as they keep trying. That's what my mom and my uncle Naruto told me. So….if I were in your place; no matter how many times I'd get knocked down, I'd keep getting up. Because you only fail once you stop trying."

Badr paused and Alibaba waited, feeling that there was more to come.

"More than anything though; it helps to have friends you can rely on. So…." Badr drew in a breath. "If it comes down to it; I'll definitely help you out. And I don't think that you should believe that the solution Sinbad gave you-is the only solution."

There was no clarity in exactly what Badr was telling Alibaba and he knew it; in a way, he was somewhat hesitant to give Alibaba that detail in what he was referring to. But however vague his words were; Alibaba felt a sense of relief come over him as if Badr had punctured the barrier that was holding all his fears; allowing them to slowly drain out.

"Thanks, Badr."

A man and a young boy was crossing the bridge that Alibaba and Badr were standing on, but when the boy passed carrying a heavy sack on his back, he accidently bumped into Alibaba and their eyes met. The boy recognized him instantly.

"It's Alibaba!"  
'Uh oh!'

The one call of his name lead too many as the people started to direct their attention and paths to Alibaba. Thus Badr and Alibaba found themselves caged in at the edge of the shallow bridge by the people. Asking how the meeting with the king had gone. Alibaba and Badr looked on at all the desperately and pleading faces on the people as they begged him to do something about the country.

As Alibaba rested his hand against the edge of the bridge, something wrapped around his wrist like a coil and he was roughly yanked into the air and in his shock and haste, he had grabbed a hold of whatever he could reach for which turned out to be Badr and the two were then pulled downwards and fell awkwardly hard into a boat.

"AH-OUCH"

When they got their bearings the two turned around and saw Cassim standing in the middle of Hassan and Zaynab, close friends and members of the Fog troupe. They were also a part of the group that deserted when Sinbad came in.

"What are you two doing out here by yourselves?" Cassim addressed them casually and Badr and Alibaba were too shocked to reply.

"CASSIM!"

* * *

It wasn't until the boat had taken them to a new hideout. Somewhere along the river banks, further into Balbadd in an abandoned area and into a warehouse of sorts that Alibaba questioned Cassim. There were also the other members of the Fog Troupe who had not taken kindly to Sinbad joining them.

"Where have you been? It's a mess out there!"

Cassim seated himself on the small steps, resting his arm on his knee. "I heard. You guys were attacked by monsters from Kou."

"You heard and you didn't bother to help?" Badr hissed before Alibaba got the chance to.

"If you knew, why didn't you come back?"

Cassim swatted his hand, "I can't stand being with that Sinbad! High king of the Seven Sea's or not I won't have him looking down on me!"

Badr's fingernails dug into his arms as he held back his tongue.

Alibaba's form slackened in defeat, "But truly, there's not much we can do with our power."

Cassim was quick to deny the statement and in a way Badr was relieved. "That's not true. It's not just us. There are plenty of people who want to rebuild this country." He then smirked. "Like all its citizens."

That statement alone sent a chill down Alibaba and Badr's spine. There was something in Cassim's eyes that did not seem right.

"They're fed up with the situation and now the king wants to make all of us slaves?" Alibaba tried asking how Cassim knew that but he just continued. "What do you think will happen if we tell them this and supply them all with weapons like ours? We'll incite the masses and with our power, we'll topple the monarchy!"

Badr stomped forward, after realizing what Cassim was implying. "Are you insane!? You're talking about giving people weapons to attack your government? That'll be considered treason! What would happen to them?"

"If they were caught, execution." Cassim stated calmly, "But with weapons like ours, the government won't stand a chance."

"Where are you going to get more weapons?" Badr countered, folding his arms angrily. With the expression on his face, he appeared less like a child. Alibaba could almost see traces of Sinbad-he just hoped that Cassim didn't.

Smirking, Cassim pointed passed the two boys to the shadows behind them. From it emerged a man with is face obscured by a mask, carrying a staff.

"Let me introduce you; he helped out the Fog Troupe before by lending us those weapons. He also told us about the king's plans to make us slaves."

The figure stepped out of the shadows, kneeling to Alibaba. "It's a pleasure, your highness. I am simply an arms dealer. I cannot do much but I have been helping master Cassim as much as I can."

There was a suffocating feeling in the air around this man that Badr couldn't' shake; he swore he could hear these distressed soft screeches relatable to fluttering but not as tranquil.

'I don't like this guy.'

"He's going to lend us more weapons."

"I will prepare enough so that all of the rebels may have one." The man stated, standing up now.

Alibaba turned to Cassim desperately calling for him to stop this, warning him that the Kou Empire was also backing Balbadd's monarch "The Kou's army could come in!"  
"Pah!" Cassim scoffed. "We could easily overtake them with our numbers. We have the entire population of Balbadd on our side!"

"Not everyone is equipped to fight!" Badr argued throwing his arms out.

"That's right! You'll cause a war! How many lives would be lost?" Alibaba tried to reason.

Cassim threw himself forward, standing up he placed his hand on top of his chest "They'll be fighting and dying for a new country! It's worth the sacrifice!"

Alibaba and Badr drew silence as Cassim stepped down towards them. "The plan will be carried out the night after tomorrow." He then held out his hands towards Alibaba and Badr. "You'll both join me right?"

Badr immediately shook his head, "I just found my mother and sister; I want to help but not like this. Not with war."

With his bangs obscuring his eyes, Alibaba spoke. "I didn't sign up for war."

"We have no choice. Even as chivalrous thieves, we couldn't do anything." Cassim pointed out. "Even when you went to Ahmad as a prince, it didn't work out. We have no choice but to fight. Am I wrong Alibaba?"

"I think you are," Alibaba said surprising Cassim and Badr as well at his response. "I think we should try something else."

When Cassim asked what exactly they should try Alibaba said he did not know immediately but before Cassim could ridicule him Alibaba then said, "I don't know but I'll definitely come up with something! And I'll save this country without letting a single person die!"

There was a new light in Alibaba's eyes as he looked at Cassim but it was not one that he took likely. Cassim formed a fist and punched Alibaba hard, causing him to fall back there was already a bruise forming.

"What the hell!" Badr exclaimed.

Alibaba stood up and grabbed Cassim by his top, "WHAT WAS THAT FOR?"

Cassim remained still, "Alibaba, I hate being with you. Even when you were a prince you were useless. You have no power or resolve. You're not needed anymore. If you still plan on stopping me. The next time we meet you and I will be enemies."

Alibaba and Badr then left the place; but not before Badr said one last thing to Cassim. "At least he's not worse than scum."

* * *

When the moon rose and things became quiet once again in Balbadd, Sinbad decided to take that time to have a drink on top of a roof to unwind. He was resting at the edge of the walls leading down from the roof. He hadn't seen sight of Alibaba since this morning and he was a bit disconcerted not only by his disappearance but by the response Alibaba had given him that morning. He didn't want to become king, yet he wanted to save this country but as Sinbad saw it, that was the only way to save this country. The monarchy were the ones responsible for its fate-legally speaking but Alibaba could not come to terms with the fact that he would be expected to lead this country if they overthrow Ahbmad.

'How does he expect to change anything, if the source of the issue remains in power?'

Sinbad heard the door opening, he was expecting Ja'far only to nearly fall off the end of the roof when he saw Sakura coming out instead. It was as if it was a foreign thing to see her.

"Sorry, am I disturbing you?" she asked.

"Ah, no, no, go ahead."

When Sakura turned around to close the door in front of the staircase, Sinbad quickly adjusted his bangs that felt unruly all of a sudden and tugged his robes straighter and crossed his legs before the pinkette had set him back in her line of vision.

"Something wrong?"

"I just wanted to know if you might have any idea where Alibaba went this morning. Badr's with him."

Sinbad sighed, shaking his head. "No; he didn't really say much of anything after the meeting…"

Sakura's expression turned downcast. "I see."

"What's wrong?"

"Well…." Sakura folded her arms under her chest, holding herself. "I'm not sure but I'm getting a really unsettling feeling about all of this. Esra and Badr seem to be avoiding me."

"I'm sure that's not the case," Sinbad said, feeling the urge to reassure the women in front of him. "They probably want to be around their friends because of everything that's happening. Remember, they got themselves involved with Balbadd's matters before you came here."

Sakura sighed, "I guess that's true…..So why did Alibaba look so down when he left?"

Sinbad glanced into the wine from the cup in his hand, "I told him that this country needed to be remade. That he needs to become the king of this country. His answer though was rather disappointing."

Sakura lowered her chin, her eyes widening a little. "You said what?"

"It makes sense, doesn't it? Alibaba couldn't possibly think that keeping Ahmad in power was an option for change right?" Sinbad asked, though a bit hesitant sensing the change in the pinkette's tone.

"Even so, you told him he has to become king in order for that change to happen?"

Sinbad grimaced as he recognized the expression on Sakura's face; the one that usually appeared before he was greatly chastised, even though her initial appearance might have changed somewhat and become more alluring to him; he could not forget that look on her face.

"You want me to tell you where you went wrong with your approach?"

"I have a feeling I'm not gonna have a choice." Sinbad swallowed hard.

"Alibaba might want to save this country but he probably hasn't come up with a way to do that yet. Then you came along and suggested that he should become king? Did you even consider whether or not he might want to do something else? Not everyone has the ambition to rule Sinbad."

"It's in his blood though," Sinbad argued. "He's a descendant of the royal family. It's the best way."

"But it's not the only way," Sakura stated back. "There are different types of power."

Then things we quiet for a moment, then Sakura drew in a breath rubbing her eyes. "Okay; what's this really about?"

Sinbad's fingers twitched against the cup he held; impressed by Sakura's intuition that was just as sharp as ever. "There's a shadow moving over Balbadd. If this issue isn't resolved the Kou Empire might take advantage to overthrow everything themselves. They have that power and I don't know if my allies from the alliance will get here in time or be enough to stop them. Without a ruler to represent this country; Balbadd becomes a bigger target for them. It's just as vulnerable as it is with Ahmad as king. And the Kou are connected to Al-Thamen. There is nothing good that can come from the way things are right now. And it puts a lot of risk for my country too."

"You're right." Sakura felt her hair brushing against her cheeks as the wind started to pick up in the night, but she barely blinked, not daring to take her eyes off of Sinbad case he should think it a surrender. "But that doesn't mean you can just use Alibaba like a chess piece on the board. There is always another way Sinbad. He can't be forced into this and I'm not going to let you force him into this."

The conversation then took an unexpected turn as Sinbad decided to change points and bring up what they had technically discussed the night before; only they had not outright stated it.

"Does that warning apply to Badr and Esra as well?"

Sakura's eyebrow twitched and Sinbad noticed, "You know what I mean right. Technically as they are my children; that makes them the start of my lineage and I am a king who needs to retain that. I've actually been getting some pressure about this."

"Unofficially." Sakura reminded Sinbad. He hadn't known about them and they hadn't been married so Badr and Esra were in that sense illegitimate.

"But if I claimed them, they'd become legitimate and the heirs to Sindria." Sinbad teased.

With her feet digging into the stone roof, Sakura gave Sinbad a painfully hot glare. "Sinbad. I am warning you. You are yet to see what I am willing to do to people who threaten my family. And this is in my terms exactly that."

"But they're my children too Sakura." Sinbad reminded her.

"Regardless, Sinbad you cannot claim them. Things are hard enough as it is with my friends here too."

Sinbad then went lax, sighing. "I know okay; don't worry. I wasn't serious. We already came to an agreement." He then looked out into the distance. "I know you're not here to stay and that you're taking them back with you."

Sakura took a few steps closer to Sinbad, she leaned onto the wall starring straight out into the distance. "I honestly thought that you'd have gotten married by now,"

"I had plenty of offers." Sinbad chuckled dryly. After Sindria had been officially recreated and established and Sinbad took his place as king; he was automatically bombarded with offers from nobles and other royals (thankfully none from his own alliance) to align himself with them through matrimony. For a time he had indulged and agreed to marriage meetings so as not to offend the families but every meeting was like clockwork, going in the same direction.

Sinbad would meet with the women, they would talk, they were easily charmed and none had appealed to him. Without a doubt, they were beautiful in aesthetics, well-mannered and poised as most high born were raised. But they simply had not appealed. Sinbad also refused to encourage any intimacy with the women because it entailed a long line of trouble for him afterward. He nearly slipped up once or twice but he kept himself in check. Knowing that it would be the right incentive for the women to go back to their sires who would then be able to demand marriage.

Sakura let out an exaggerated sigh as she rested her chin on her hand, "You're really that hopeless."

"No; I just couldn't' settle. It's kind of your fault."

Sakura rolled her eyes, "Oh please; I was gone for ten years. That's more than enough time to find a companion without guilt."

"Not with the standard you set."

Sakura's eyes became wide, her lips pulled together in a thin line as she met Sinbad's eyes. There appeared to be nothing but genuine sincerity behind them and yet at the same time Sakura could not believe her ears.

And in that moment, a little bit of the rift set between them shortened.

"Idiot…"

The door creaked before it opened, giving the two time to distance themselves a little more to appear indifferent as Badr and Alibaba came up the roof with Ja'far following behind them. Alibaba and Badr discretely glanced between the two before looking at one another; unsure of what the other was really thinking but deciding not to voice it.

"Alibaba. Badr" Sinbad greeted.

Sakura went over to Badr, placing her hand on his shoulders. "Where were you, young man? I didn't think you were going to be gone the whole day."

"Sorry; Alibaba and I were just walking around the city." Badr lied. Still wondering what was occurring before they had arrived on the roof, although it didn't seem like there was anything personal being discussed. "Actually there's something we wanted to ask." Badr looked over at Sinbad.

"Me?"

"Yes."

"King Sinbad." Alibaba addressed, "Please teach us how to use a djinn properly."

Sinbad seemed satisfied with their request but when he asked Alibaba what had happened that made him change his mind like this; Alibaba simply said he needed to do whatever he could to help this country. He wanted Sinbad to help him gain the power to do that. However, despite the obscurity of his answer, Sinbad did not miss the gleam of resolve in Alibaba's eyes when he spoke.

He had to do a look over to Sakura; although she said nothing, in turn, she knew that this was as a means of triumph. His pieces on the chess board just moved on its own.

'Oh boy.'

 **And that's all for now. I'm on holiday so as soon as my computer is fixed I'm going to start on the next chapter; in the mean time...**

 **DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW!**


	16. Present: Revolution part 1

**Hello my wonderful readers! I have finally finished this chapter and am looking forward to writing the next for this story. I know that it takes a while but it really is a process when writing this story. Anyway thank you all for the reviews and favorites and I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

It was surprising for Sinbad and Sakura to hear that Alibaba and Badr wanted to learn how to master their djinns; but there was no objections from either party in allowing the boys to do so. Although Sakura was initially worried about this, for reasons she couldn't place yet. That didn't stop her from agreeing to let Badr train under Sinbad. And the following day, the boys had gotten up early to do just that.

In the remains of the bottom floor of one of the older buildings in Balbadd; Sinbad had taken Badr and Alibaba to start on their training to master their djinn equip. Sinbad explained to them the fundamentals of djinn equip and what was basically required in order to bring it forth. He told them that magoi would provide the metal vessel with the ability to materialize.

"We gather our djinn's power and assimilate it into ourselves." Sinbad explained to the two. "We can summon a power close to that of a materialized djinn. In other words, djinn equip."

"I heard about this from Vapula, and I've tried but all I can do so far is bring out these two katana." Badr told him.

Sinbad nodded, "Well that's a start, but the end-goal is to be able to cover your entire body with your djinn equip, but that's not possible in a short amount of time." He then pointed to his wrist, "For now you should start with a partial djinn equip; it's called a Djinn weapon equip. It looks like you're on the right track Badr. You're able to form a weapon."

Badr shrugged, disappointed, "Well yes, but the truth is I can only form the two katana but I can also shift it into other forms, I just can' hold it long enough."

"Have you tried combining your katana?" Sinbad asked, "The reason is you might not be able to shift because you're extending two parts of your djinn weapon? Perhaps bringing it together will make it easier to maintain. A djinn weapon equip actually takes the metal vessel and transforms it, but that's not what happened to yours right?"

Badr shook his head, "It just produced a light that I shifted into katana."

"Well then you should try transforming those katana. Alibaba you try the same with your dagger."

Alibaba and Badr gave each other a glance before attempting to draw out their djinn's power to an extent that they haven't been able to before. Flames surrounded Alibaba but he couldn't draw them in as Sinbad was instructing him to do. Badr had crossed his katana over one another, his locket was glowing brightly as he attempted to mould the two together, the light between the two would appear to lightly combined and then deflect each other.

Badr clenched his teeth in frustration as he continued to try as Alibaba fell down after exhausting himself quickly with the production of his flames. Although there was also a simmer of light surrounding Badr that was causing the magoi to leave his body as well.

'He's strong,' Sinbad thought smirking slightly.

Then Sinbad saw the yellow-tinged, white light become mixed in with green and it was getting darker but there was also the sound of static that was also coming out in small forms from the two.

'What's going on?'

The green light was leading down Badr's hand and the second it touched his katana there was a loud rumbling and a small explosion that sent Badr skidding across the ground.

"Badr!" Alibaba ran over to him as the boy stood up on his own, dusting himself off.

"Again, dammit!" Badr cursed, slamming his fist on his leg.

"What happened?" asked Sinbad.

Badr sighed, "It's my chakra…"

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

Sakura put her hand on Badr's arms after the explosion that occurred. Sinbad had Ja'far call her in to help with this since she was an expert on matters regarding chakra. When she arrived demanded to know how this had happened in the first place. Sinbad explained the details from his point of view and Badr chided in after.

"I always end up drawing chakra when I try to bring out more magoi. Then this happens." Badr said. Sakura wanted to know how Badr has been fighting so far with his metal vessel then explained his past ordeals; like when he fought Sinbad and the detail of him summoning his clones using chakra and magoi together stunned Sakura. As far as she had experienced, it was not possible for her to draw out both of these energies at once because they were so different and could not coincide with one another.

'So how could Badr do it?'

"Well what do you think?" Sinbad asked.

"I'm not sure but it's probably because chakra and magoi are two different energies. So they can't actually mix together." Sakura stated, she looked at the two boys who already appeared tired from their training this morning.

"Maybe you should stay around to help supervise, as well" Sinbad suggested. Sakura looked up at him, raising her eyebrow at the man as he folded his arms across his chest, seemingly innocent.

"What?"

Sinbad took a step back, holding out his hands, "Well you've been able to master your djinn equips quickly and you have experience in teaching someone else how to use it right?"

"Really mom?" Badr asked, looking up at his mother.

Despite their agreement, Sakura preferred to have a distance well-kept from Sinbad at this time; even though it wasn't really possible. The matters revolving around Balbadd helped in a way, but not entirely since it also kept them close. She simply preferred if she didn't interact too much with Sinbad.

"What do you say?" Sinbad asked again.

Sakura sighed.

* * *

Badr and Alibaba were doing their best to ignore the awkwardness created with the knowledge they had obtained that night while eavesdrop, as they watched Sinbad and Sakura standing on the other side across from them.

"The main matter here is control of the energy. Once you can properly control your magoi, you won't have an issue drawing out your full body djinn equip-it'll be natural but you also have to look at the quantity of magoi that you draw out to summon your djinn equip."

Sakura walked closer to Alibaba and Badr, she poked their foreheads, feeling their heat and sweat on their skin. "Build up your magoi inside of you, but don't release it, focus it to a certain point in your body then it's like opening a hole to let the energy outside. What Alibaba struggles is controlling the release of the flames with the amount of magoi that just gets wasted when he attacks. Badr I can relate to more because he's struggling to decipher the difference between chakra and magoi; once the magoi reaches a certain point of power; he mistakes it for chakra and ends up drawing on that instead." Sakura smiled at her son, "Though I'm impressed you can use both chakra and magoi at the same time."

Badr blushed, looking away. He was still deterred by his mother and Sinbad's deceit but still held strongly onto the floodgate that was the secret of her and Sinbad, until the perfect moment when he was ready to drown someone.

"Okay; both of you close your eyes." The boys gave each other wary expressions but did as told. "Alright picture a small white dot in the centre of this darkness and keep your focus there. Don't drift."

Sinbad silently watched from the distance and he was not the only one.

Along the outskirt of the hole, Morgiana and Esra were standing as they peered to see the two boys training. Near the door on the other side, Ino, Hinata and Ja'far were watching them closely. And silently.

"Now increase the size of that dot, very slowly." Sakura said in a careful tone, she watched the boys for any sign of distraction or irritation from the stillness as she knew Badr was a bit hyper. She counted to a minute before instructing again. "Now call on your djinn."

"Vapula"

"Amon."

Sakura moved back as the heat of the flames and light touched her skin and like a synapse, instructed her body to move away. Alibaba's blade was engulfed by the flames and slowly started to take shape, the katana made of light started to morph in Badr's hands and when the light shattered away like glass, in the place of its silhouette shape of a large, crescent-shaped sword. With Alibaba's djinn equip, the flames were giving way to what appeared to be black steal.

Badr opened his eyes. "Wow no way!"

That had caused Alibaba to open his eyes as well; he was shocked from the flames surrounding his body and then, the sign of black steel in the form of a large sword.

"That's their djinn's weapons!" Sinbad gasped. He was surprised they managed to bring it out like this; but also impressed.

However, upon the sight came a mutual shock that broke the focus on the djinn equip; had the boys excel too much magoi and then retreat back to its metal vessels. Alibaba and Badr collapsed on the floor, panting as the heat overtook them. But they were too excited to be brought down by this lapse.

"That was amazing; I saw it!"

"Yeah," Alibaba said.

Sakura crossed her arms, "You two were close, but I don't think you're going to be able to do that again."

"Huh?"

"The amount of magoi you used, was too much. I told you; you have to remain in control and focus until it becomes natural for you." Sakura exhaled, before smiling she leaned down and ruffled the boy's hair. "But that wasn't bad for a first try."

"You're kinda a harsh teacher huh?" Sinbad commented dully.

Sakura glared back at him, "Better than you."

"Hey!"

Alibaba and Badr shared a knowing look before averting their eyes.

The training resumed for the rest of the day, throughout which Sinbad and Sakura went about tutoring Badr and Alibaba on their djinn equips. Offering what they had learned for themselves over the years. Of course there was still a banter that went on between Sakura as Sinbad during their lessons that the boy's couldn't help analysing more than their own techniques with mastering their metal vessels.

* * *

While Badr was heading out to his room after the long day of training and having said goodnight to his mother and his aunts. With everything weighing on his mind though, he doubted he was going to get much rest. The matter of Sinbad and his mother still played on his thoughts but he was able to keep face today, which surprised him more than anyone else.

'I have to help Alibaba first.' He told himself.

"I don't know what made him change his mind, but I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel."

"And how was Badr?"

"He's impressive, for someone so young he's got a lot of talent."

"Think it's hereditary?"

"Masrur…."

Badr stopped at the door as he overheard Sinbad speaking with Ja'far and Masrur. He didn't catch all of what was being said, but he knew that it had to do with Alibaba and Balbadd's state of affairs. For him though, Badr came to realize that this was a chance. He lightly tapped on the door before pushing it open.

The three immediately went silent after seeing the young boy.

"Badr." Sinbad greeted.

"Can I speak with you alone Sinbad?" he asked curtly, his expression portraying nothing of the nature of the topic he wanted to discuss.

Masrur, Sinbad and Ja'far all shared a mirrored curiosity and worry. Sinbad gave a brief nod to tell Ja'far and Masrur to leave the two alone for now. Both left without a word, closing the door behind them. Although while they were walking away from the room, Ja'far had to voice his thoughts, wondering what Badr wanted to discuss with Sinbad. Of course all Masrur could do was respond bluntly that he did not know.

Sinbad felt his whole body rigid with tension as he stared at the young ten-year-old boy; who was looking at him like a strict adult. And seeing as he had his mother's eyes wasn't helping to ease Sinbad's nerves either because it was a constant reminder of their past and present.

"What did you want to discuss?" Sinbad asked, attempting to appear casual.

. "I just wanted to know what you were planning on doing to help Alibaba." Badr then smiled, taking on the image of a child once again "He's been worrying a lot about what's going to become of Balbadd and honestly, he doesn't know what he wants to do about it yet. That's why he wanted you to train us to use our djinn equip; Alibaba feels that that's the only form of power he has right now. But he doesn't know how he's going to use it to save this country. He's at a loss and right now so am I."

Sinbad seemed intrigued to hear this, while he had talked to Alibaba, the third prince had kept himself at a distance. Now he was getting this information from Badr instead. And for a moment, Sinbad forgot that this child was his son. If he had, he would have thought to be more cautious.

"Go on."

Badr felt the corner of his lip twitch as he found himself bringing down Sinbad's defences in no more than a few short-slightly inaccurate statements. He folded his hands in front of him.

"I think that Alibaba might do something dangerous as soon as he learns how to master his djinn weapon equip. But I think that's going to do more harm than good."

From Sinbad could understand, Badr was telling him that Alibaba had planned to use his djinn's power to do something irrational as soon as he learned how to use it properly. That was useful information considering any rash moves from Alibaba at this point would interrupt his plans to deal with this situation. Now Sinbad knew that he was going to have to move as soon as possible.

"Alright Badr; I'm going to tell you something." Sinbad leaned forward and the boy eagerly followed. "My allies from the Seven Sea's alliance are going to be arriving soon, hopefully by tomorrow. And we're going to make an appeal that will hopefully resolve this problem. In the meantime, I need you to make sure that Alibaba does not try to do anything on his own; try to talk him out of it if you can."

Badr looked naïve, tilting his head slightly to the side and asked a question in a manner that seemed to have no hidden intent or use for whatever information was going to be offered. "What are you going to do?"

"My allies and I are going to appeal for Alibaba to become king of Balbadd instead-but for now he cannot know about this."

It made sense; if Alibaba was to become the next king of Balbadd, then he would have the power over the country and could work to restoring it. But Badr knew that this was not what Alibaba wanted. His friend had strongly shown that he was against the idea of becoming king and while he did not have a proper plan in motion just yet, that did not stand to reason for Badr to turn to Sinbad's solution as the only one.

"Oh; I get it." Badr nodded, closing his eyes. "If Alibaba becomes king, then he won't allow Balbadd to become a slave farm."

Sinbad nodded, "Exactly, and like you said he doesn't have a plan of his own set yet. So that should give me some time to go and make the appeal with my allies."

"Can you really do that?" Badr asked. Wanting to know more about these so-called allies of Sinbad from the Seven Sea's alliance.

Sinbad nodded, "That's right. The Seven Sea's alliance is an alliance between multiple countries. I started it years ago to establish peace between nations. And we're not a power that many would want to challenge. The prospect of influence, is enough to face a power like Kou's. Therefore when I make the appeal with my diplomats support; I'm certain that this matter can be resolved."

"So it's made up of different countries?"

"Yes. We have one belief, 'Don't invade and don't be invaded."

'Bingo.' Badr's smile widened.

 _"My king, I have to ask. What are your intentions?" asked Vapula, sensing something shift in her king's candidate._

'You'll find out soon Vapula.'

* * *

"So how did training go today?" Ino asked curiously.

Sakura, Ino and Hinata were alone in one of the small rooms of the building, they were wiping themselves off best they could with water from a well since they couldn't really go to the baths right now for a proper wash.

Sakura especially wanted to wash after spending the whole day under the blazing sun. She had removed her top and was naked from the waist up.

"It was good; I mean Alibaba can't summon his metal vessel weapon and Badr can't merge his katana to create his final weapon either but they're progressing well." Sakura answered as she ran the wet cloth across her stomach and arms. "I'm still wondering about what brought this turnabout. I can't shake the feeling that those two are up to something."

Ino and Hinata gave each other a shared glance while out of Sakura's line of sight.

"And you were okay working with king Sinbad?" Hinata asked.

"Fine." Sakura replied curtly.

"Really?" Ino raised her eyebrow, "So; it wasn't awkward or anything like that with the two of you helping train your son together?"

Sakura rolled her eyes, tossing the cloth back into the pale and throwing on her clothes again, "Alright, what do you guys really want to know?"

Ino was quick to jump at what she failed to realize was a sarcastic question and answered it with literal intent. "I know you said that we shouldn't tell Badr and Esra about this but I really want to hear the story again-and perhaps in more details this time."

Sakura gave Ino and Hinata a pointed look, folding her arms.

"I can't help it; I still freak out every time I think about it!" Ino argued.

Sakura sighed, shaking her head, "Guys look; there's honestly not much to tell. Like I said, it was a long time ago."

"Uh huh, and we only found out the truth a few hours ago. While we were here-in another world!" Ino spread out her arms, gesturing to everything around her. "So cut us some slack and give us more details."

Ready to quickly deny Ino her request, Sakura paused when she heard a knock on the door. "It's me." Sinbad called from the other side of the wood.

"Come in, king Sinbad." Ino called, a little too merrily for Sakura's liking. She gave her friend an expression of warning to not try anything or she was going to regret it greatly. Sinbad then entered the room, greeting them.

Sakura spoke, wanting to start and end the conversation with Sinbad quickly, "Something happen?"

"Well, I just wanted to inform you that we're going to start moving tomorrow." Sinbad said, then turning directly to Sakura. "I need your help with something."

"What is it?" Sakura asked, seeming to remain indifferent to the king's presence.

Sinbad rubbed the back of his neck briefly before placing it back at his side, "You're close with the Kou princess because of your previous affiliation to Kou right?"

Sakura seemed taken aback by Sinbad's insinuation; he hadn't enjoyed dwelling on the particular topic that her travels in the past had taken her to Kou.

"Suppose I am; what do you need?"

"I want to speak with that princess concerning the marriage arrangement between her and Ahbmad, and I think your presence would be a great advantage." Sinbad explained.

"You want me to help you try and talk her out of this marriage?" Sakura gave a sceptic expression and had her answer just by the look on Sinbad's face. "Sinbad, she's doing this under her father's orders. She doesn't actually have that power of choice."

"I already thought about that; listen it looks like the alliance is going to make it to Balbadd shortly-hopefully sometime tomorrow. If they get here in time, we might be able to solve this issue politically."

Sinbad didn't want to tell Sakura how exactly he planned to resolve the matter with the assistance of the Seven Sea's alliance because he had no doubt that she was going to give him an earful for it.

Biting her bottom lip, Sakura averted her gaze. The Seven Sea's alliance; it had been so long. Running a hand over her face, she held out her hand.

"Alright, I'll think about it but I'm conscious of Kougyoku's position as well."

Sinbad smiled, "That works for me; I'll see you ladies in the morning. Goodnight."

When Sinbad closed the door, Sakura fell onto the tarps on the floor giving a heavy sigh. She was hoping that this problem in Balbadd would be solved quickly so that she could get back to figuring out how to get out of this world before something else happened. She already felt like ripping out her hair with all the familiar faces she had come across in this single city.

Ino stared at the door a while longer before turning to Sakura, "every time I see him I think-Seriously, she broke up with that?'"

"Oh Ino." Hinata sighed.

Sakura just groaned, tossing on her side away from her friends, feigning sleep.

She really needed to get out of this world.

* * *

It had been several days since the incident with Judar and Aladdin's condition had not changed since; early that morning before they were scheduled for their training Badr and Alibaba snuck into the room to check on their unconscious friend and comrade. Whenever Alibaba gazed upon Aladdin's sleeping form, throat would tighten and his heart felt like it would burst with guilt.

The door opened behind, Morgiana and Esra came in carrying pales of water and clothes. They asked what the boys were doing up at this time in the morning but they wanted to check up on him

"Sure a fine mess I got us into huh?" asked Alibaba offhandedly.

Badr let out a light chuckle, and his response earned a heavy slap to the back of the head from his sister. "Yeah; definitely-ouch!"

"Aladdin's always spoken of how much he respected you." Morgiana told him. "So I'm sure he doesn't consider helping you in your time of need anything serious."

Badr nodded his head in agreement to the Fanalis girl, "Yeah, after all because of you we were all able to come together like this. You were kind of our beacon. If I hadn't met you, I probably wouldn't have found my mom or sister."

"That's right," Esra stepped in, Alibaba turned to the young girl. "We were all brought together here because of you."

The sun started to shine brightly through the paned window, a small flock of birds flew across and all the while Alibaba seemed to come to a resolve conclusion with the rising sun.

"Thanks everyone. I've found my resolve."

Badr smirked, "Like I said if it comes downs to it. I'll definitely help you out."

* * *

The rest of the morning, Morgiana and Esra spent doing their errands around the hideout. As everyone seemed at a distance with their own occupations Esra had welcomed it as this had granted her the time she needed to come to terms with her new found knowledge. While Badr was able to face Sakura and Sinbad without a display, she was yet to fully accept the ordeal.

When looking at the kind of person that Sinbad was in comparison to Sakura; Esra couldn't understand how her mother and Sinbad had ever been in love with one another. There the question of their relationship that was pouring through Esra's mind and not the outcome which was daunting Badr. Because of this, she found it difficult to be in either one of their presence for too long without filling with discomfort. Badr seemed to have quickly overcome that, but he had never been resentful at the thought of their father.

"Alibaba seemed a little off this morning." Morgiana said

"Really?"

"I've seen him like this before…." The Fanalis girl trailed. Back at the time when Alibaba had used most of his dungeon treasure to free all of the slaves in the city they were in before. Morgiana went to see Alibaba. "After that, he went off on his own…."

"What Badr said was kinda strange too…..'If it comes down to it'…You don't think….?"

The shallow footsteps in the hall ceased and they turned to one another.

"THEY WOULDN'T!"

* * *

Morgiana and Esra's worries were not without substance, as Badr and Alibaba had gone to the palace to confront Ahbmad once again. This time with the determination not to allow anything to get in their way. They walked through the crowd that had gathered in front of the palace gates, silently apologizing in their minds to those who they were leaving behind and the ones they were defying by doing this. They knew Cassim was going to strike that day and they couldn't wait for the issue to be resolved by others. The crowd gathered in front of the large palace walls were crying out and begging which only succeeded to fuel Alibaba and Badr's determination. With their faces covered by the cloths, they wore that served as enough cover to render them unrecognizable to their own friends and family; the two boys broke through the crowd and past the first group of guards that were keeping the individuals at bay. Then they came to the front of the gate where two Balbadd guards were standing.

When the guard's attention fell on them, Alibaba and Badr's removed the cloths on their faces.

"I'm the third prince of Ballbadd! Alibaba Saluja! I order you to open this gate!"

Getting into the palace Plaza had not taken too much force on the boy's part. After Alibaba's reveal, the guards did not want to initially allow him to enter but when they realized they were close to ensuring a riot from the people and after some coaxing from Alibaba himself; he was permitted to enter the palace on account of promising that the gathering of people behind him would not rave and cease any discretions against the guard's as they had done when there was refusal to open the gates to the prince.

Badr glanced behind him as the gates closed once again, the masses of people cheering behind them but the moment the gates had closed there were heavy footsteps before they were surrounded with spears pointing at them as the guard circled around. Alibaba made it clear in the beginning that he had no intention of fighting against any of the guards; as they were too considered people of Balbadd whom he swore to protect. Of course, that succeeded in making things a little harder.

Evidently at the ruckus caused by their approach caught the attention of Ahbmad, Sahbmad, the Banker and several of the guards.

"AHBMAD! I'VE COME TO SETTLE THINGS WITH YOU." Alibaba called, looking up at the balcony where there was a gathering to watch the spectacle. "GET DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW."

Alibaba's demands did not go unheard but his older brother refused to yield and instead sent down one of the three Kou soldiers that had been offered to him that day as the princess's dowry. The giant leaped from the multiple walls until he landed in the plaza, his appearance cleared out the guards that had surrounded the two.

"I have no business with you!" Alibaba declared.

"That's not true we met before." Entai removed his mask, revealing a man with dark hair and dull eyes. "You have a bad memory. But there's no need for introductions, because…." The side of Entai's face began to bulge like a swelling, but the smile was still visible on his face as he started to shift, his skin taking on a dark grey tinge and his body changing until it resembled an elephant with three trunks.

"CAUSE YOU'RE GOING TO DIE RIGHT NOW."

This initial appearance was starting to make it clear that this was one of the soldiers that Kougyoku had ordered to attack them that night.

Alibaba stared in shock, "He's-He's the Kou Empire-

The initial shock of Entai's transformation had taken Alibaba and Badr by such surprise that when the giant trunk came swinging at them it hit with the force of a ton and caused them to crash hard into one of the pillars standing with the wall.

"Dammit!"

"You alright!?" Badr asked, picking himself up from the ground for a quick counter.

"Yeah!"

Alibaba summoned Amon's flames, his dagger became engulfed by the flames before Alibaba thrust it towards Entai, but it was effortlessly blocked by a stomp of his feet and the uprooting of the stone grounds to cancel out the flames. Badr ran forward, summoning the katana blades from his metal vessel to attack Entai. The Kou's fighter had retracted his three trunks and was drawing in water from the line of the water fountain in the middle of the plaza.

"I was created by Kou' technology to be the strongest fighter in the world!"

Before Badr could strike Entai mid hair, he was sprayed with the heavy water pressure in the air and flew back, crashing heavily into the wall; feeling the ends cutting into his skin before he fell on the ground.

"BADR" Alibaba screamed out towards the boy who wasn't moving.

Badr coughed up the clump of blood that gathered in his mouth, he managed to gather himself after only a few moments but when he looked up to Alibaba he was barely able to get the warning out as Entai came up behind him, his trunk flung behind his shoulder and ready to swing forward straight at Alibaba.

"ALIBABA GET OUT OF THE WAY."

The warning was headed in time though, as Alibaba managed to duck down and roll across the grounds although it was painful it was a small price compared to what he would've had to endure if he had been struck.

"You little pests!" Entai sneered. He swung his trunks at Alibaba, one after the other, beating heavily on the grounds but wasn't able to hit him as Alibaba backed away according to each strike. Holding his dagger wrapped in flames.

Both boys knew they needed to end this fight quickly because it was possibly going to be the first of three.

Badr got back up and formed a hand sign to which three shadow clones appeared; the three went to attack Entai without the use of their metal vessel. The clones served as little more than a distraction for the enemy though as Entai flung his trunk, using his height and weight to overpower the boy's clones but they continued to jump around the creature to keep his attention for as long as possible.

"ALIBABA, YOU KNOW WHAT WE HAVE TO DO TO BEAT THIS GUY," Badr called from the distance.

Alibaba understood what Badr was saying; they needed to bring out the true power of their metal vessels even if just a fraction more than what they have been doing by far. The only problem was, they had only one lesson for this and they were yet to manage it again but there was no other choice.

Holding up Amon's blade, Alibaba drew upon the flames as they engulfed his entire body as he tried to call on his djinn equip but the flames would only rise further and not suppress as he wanted it to.

"Come on Alibaba!"

Entail had flung the last of Badr's shadow clones across the area, into a wall where he vanished into a puff of smoke and now had set his eyes back on Alibaba. He threw his trunks forward one of the other and Alibaba had to break concentration to avoid them as he was pushed back.

"Djinn equip!" Alibaba held his sword with both hands drawing out his flames but that only proceeded to further annoy Entai.

Badr then jumped into the battle, coming up behind Entai as he himself tried to draw on Vapula's full power. Trying to remember his mother and Sinbad's lesson on how to bring out a djinn equip but it was easier said than done under the circumstances.

"Come on Alibaba! Bring in your flames." Badr called as he jumped away from Entai's ever-active trunks, avoiding yet another spritz of water with enough force to send him into the ground. Badr started running around the plaza in hopes of keeping Entai's attention so that Alibaba could bring up his djinn equip soon.

'I have to remember what mom said.' Badr closed his eyes tightly as he continued to run, he held his katana crossed over one another, forming the white dot in the dark space and trying to keep it in his mind as he opened his eyes, feeling the heavy wind created when he just barely avoided Entai flinging a rock from the rubble created during his attacks.

'Come on Vapula work with me here!' Badr moved further away as Entai charged at him; he closed his eyes forming the dot in his mind before expanding it and then he felt the distinct feeling of magoi flowing yet at the same time so did his chakra. Badr knew that in order for this to work, he had to differentiate the two as he did the other day.

Taking a deep breath, isolating himself from ground trembling as Entai approached him with heavy steps.

"SHINE VAPULA"

The sudden flow within Badr was unlike anything he had ever felt before; his arms became engulfed by light, temporarily blinding Entai causing him to back away. Then Badr leaped from the light to Entai, drawing back a blade of light, a broad blade with the curve of a crescent. There were also white markings leading down the boy's arms, in a pattern that couldn't be placed. It was bigger than Badr but he was still able to lift it. Then bringing the blade down, a white light started to surround the parameter of the weapon. Badr swung it forward in front of Entai as he went to attack Alibaba; that got Entai's attention when a crescent-shaped light shot out in front of him and he quickly turned to Badr. That crescent extended into a long stream of light that ran across the ground, breaking through it and creating a line between Entai and Alibaba. The force had cut off one of Entai's trunks and blood gushed profusely from it, like a newfound gazer.

"What?!"

Alibaba gasped, catching sight of the blade Badr now held. "Badr you did it!"

Entai glared at the boy, turning his large form to overshadow Badr. Badr backed away slowly, feeling the weight of the sword, which weighed nothing only a moment ago suddenly weighed more than he could carry. Badr sunk to his knees.

'What's going on?" Badr wondered as he felt breathing get heavy. He wasn't able to process much of his thoughts because Entai swung his trunk towards him and knocked him into the air with a particularly heavy thrust, the walls seemed to rattle on impact and the rubble fell around him when he finally stopped and collided with the palace structure. Badr felt his lungs burn for air that he couldn't get and he felt the blood pouring from his mouth.

"BADR" Alibaba screamed.

Entai stomped towards Badr, "Pesky brat, I'll deal with you first!"

Then Entai's body began to undergo yet another transformation into something more menacing and horrific than they thought possible, his body expanded so much his armour broke from him like glass, his remaining trunks extended, the middle splitting to reveal razor like jaws that were ready to tear through anything in its path; his jaw grew long and his teeth sharper and broader.

Alibaba watched as Entai charged towards Badr and he realized that the only way he would be able to stop this monster now, was to do what he had been trying this entire time. He held out his sword in front of him.

'If I don't do this, Badr's going to die!'

Alibaba started concentrating the flames of Amon's flames into his blade, it was as if his heart was trying to keep pace with the rapidly growing fire around him but he was too concerned for Badr to worry about burning himself with his own fire.

'If I can't concentrate my flames, I'll just burn my entire arm-my entire body!'

Then he thrust his sword up, the flame surrounding him was scorching but didn't even touch him.

"SET ABLAZE AMON"

Heavy liquid drops, that's what Badr could hear through the ringing of his ears when he opened his eyes after closing them for the fear of what his last moments may look like. He imagined they would be more horrifying than painful. Through the blurriness, he expected to see Entai ready to topple him but he saw a smaller figure he could just make out as Alibaba standing in front of him and from behind, two parts of grey spilled, gushing red as it fell in two opposite directions.

In Alibaba's hand there was a single, large but slimming black sword at the hilt that he held, his hand had turned a darkish brown with red lines that looked like veins but Alibaba did not care for he was too enthralled by his success in finally drawing out his djinn weapon equip and what's more drawing it in time to save his friend.

Badr forced his body to move, he sat up clutching his side. "Alibaba, that's….

"My djinn equip" he smiled. "This is Amon's sword."

The new djinn equip had brought a new hope and strength within Badr as he forced himself up onto his feet, staggering slightly from the blow, nevertheless he managed to stand. Looking to his side, he saw Vapula's sword and picked it up, his hand turning that same dark tinge as Alibaba's had, but the line of veins was flowing green instead. The sword felt light again.

"Are you alright?" asked Alibaba cautiously examining the boy's injuries.

Badr looked at him, sharp emerald green eyes stared into the golden yellow ones of Alibaba's,

"Yes, let's go."

* * *

When Morgiana and Esra realized what Alibaba and Badr were intent on doing, they took off after them and it wasn't necessary for Morgiana to sniff them out since the girl's already knew where they would be going. Sinbad and his subordinates had been occupied that morning planning and the arrival of his allies from the Seven Seas Alliance and Sakura, Ino and Hinata had also been keeping their backs to the girls, thus it made for the perfect time to leave while everyone was distracted and wouldn't notice their absence for a while.

They took a quick route, leaping from the rooftops to avoid the line of traffic of the crowds. Especially the ones gathered at the palace.

"What were those to morons thinking? They're going to get themselves killed." Esra swore, the wind not nearly strong enough to carry off her voice before Morgiana heard it although she didn't' reply as she was certain she didn't have anything more appropriate to add on or respond.

When the palace came into sight, the girls stopped, looking over the crowd towards the gate where there were guards standing by. Unlike Alibaba and Badr the girls did not feel it necessary to be above inviting themselves into the palace. Or breaking in.

There were no longer any rooftops or buildings to leap from to propel themselves far enough, but that did not incline that they had no other methods upon entering. With one last glance of understanding to one another, they jumped down to the crowd and crouching down they sprung up into the air. The power of Morgiana's legs and Esra's chakra propulsion brought had them both over the heads of the crowds and landing in front of the bridge at the gate.

The guards looked at them with shock and suspicion.

"Hey, you two-

They did not wait to make, what would be a useless conversation and launched themselves into the air again. Leaping over the gates where they found the carnage of the remains of Entai. Although this induced great worry-and a bit of nausea. Badr and Alibaba were spotted closer towards the next gate but were being held up fighting against creatures that greatly resembled monkey's, only they had longer snouts, sharper fangs, visible claws and slit eyes of red and black that made them look demonic. There was a particularly large on standing in the center of them. This was Enshin, yet another one of the Kou warriors they had fought against before.

Alibaba and Badr rushed forward, about to strike Enshin as attacking the smaller lot of monkey's had proven futile as they had the ability to regenerate at an alarming rate and multiply; cut off the arm it grew back and the arm that fell-a new creature, the same went for any other part of their anatomy. So they went for attacking the head of the group but that's when Morgiana and Esra decided to make their presence known.

Esra slammed her fist into the ground upon impact, deterring the smaller monkey's and scattering them while Morgiana attacked Enshin, slamming her knee so hard into the side of his face that she knocked out a few of his fangs and forced him to the ground.

Alibaba and Badr stood, shell-shocked. Morgiana kept her backs to the boy's as she spoke.

"What were the two of you thinking going out here on your own?"

"Morgiana, Esra; what are you doing here?" Alibaba asked.

"We're here to help." Morgiana replied.

Esra turned to her brother and marched up to him as if she was taking a stroll but Badr felt his throat go dry with fear as his sister approached him. He shut his eyes waiting for the painful punch and then harsh words that would literally add insult to injury. When none of that came, he opened his eyes again and saw Esra starring up at him with tears in her eyes. Her hands on his chest, sending the soothing coolness of her chakra to heal his injuries, internal and external.

"Esra…?"

She sniffed, looking up at her brother through the blurriness of her tears. "Stupid, moron, freaking idiot. Why didn't you tell us you were coming here? We would've helped you."

"I-I thought you might tell mom and-

"IDIOT," Esra screamed, slamming her foot into the ground causing Badr and Alibaba to flinch in fear. "You're an idiot! Do you really think I would do that to you? To stop you from helping a friend? To think that I wouldn't help you? We're twins-we do things together….So why?! Why did you go without me?!"

Badr softly narrowed his eyes, the pain in his chest slipping from his injuries but a new one filling from the wounds he inflicted on his other half.

"I'm sorry." He put his hand on top of the girl's head and gave an affectionate stroke several times. "Sorry for not believing you'd have my back…" he smiled. "My mini-monster."

"My stupid, Nii-nii." Esra smiled, wiping away her tears when she finally finished healing Badr.

As the air around them began to shift with the creatures that started to stir from the attack, Badr, Morgiana, Alibaba, and Esra went back on full alert as the monkey's started to surround them and Enshin recovered from the attack.

"You two can go ahead," Esra said, straightening her posture. "Morg and I will take care of these monkeys."

Badr and Alibaba were quick to voice their protest of letting the girl's fight against these monsters without them but Esra and Morgiana would not hear it.

"Don't worry," Morgiana told them. "We can take care of ourselves."

And although they had argued, both Alibaba and Badr knew that to be true. That didn't make their fears any less but the task at hand overpowered their personal conflictions. Drawing a breath, Morgiana let out a screeched that disoriented the monkey creatures around them.

"Go now!" Esra said moving to pick up Badr who squirmed in his sisters hold, embarrassed as was Alibaba as Morgiana copied the purple haired girl. Tossing them into the air, straight over the wall and onto the other side where they both landed safely.

They were still able to hear the girl's voices on the other side of the wall.

"Go. Hurry!" Morgiana told them.

"BADR YOU BETTER COME BACK ALIVE, OR IM GOING TO KILL YOU."

Badr and Alibaba took off, making their way to the entrance into the building, going up the stairs and into the unknown.

Back outside, Morgiana and Esra stood their ground in front of the wall and gate that separated them from Alibaba and Badr, claiming that would not allow Enshin or his small subordinates pass.

"I remember you, little girls. Are you certain you want to fight? You were barely able to keep up with us the last time."

"Oh yeah?" Esra sneered up at Enshin, lowering hands she got into a fighting position, clenching her fists warningly. "You won't be thinking that way for long."

Morgiana also moved out of her defensive blocking position and started hopping on one foot, her upper body stiff. "You're yet to see, what I'm really capable of."

* * *

"Alibaba has broken into the palace?" Sinbad asked in disbelief, clenching his hand under the wood of the table.

"What should we do Sin?" asked Ja'far.

Sinbad squeezed the bridge of his nose in frustration. The news of Alibaba's break-in at the palace was not a welcomed one, in fact, Sinbad was livid as this had drawn back their plans for a political appeal what's more his allies from the alliance were not too far off from Balbadd but now it seemed like they might not be able to make it in time.

Sinbad wiped the thought from his mind; believing that there was still a chance as it was his country at risk as well.

"We're heading to the palace."

Spectators who had been standing outside of the doorway listening to Sinbad started to make way for him when Ino and Hinata came rushing in, blocking the entrance.

"What's wrong?" Sinbad asked, quick to not the disconcerting expressions on their faces.

"W-We can't find Badr or Esra anywhere." Hinata said, "Have you seen them king Sinbad?"

Sinbad paused frowning. "Aren't they with Sakura?"

Ino shook her head, "Sakura has been searching the building for half an hour now. We can't find Badr or Esra anywhere and they're friends aren't around either."

Sinbad swallowed heavily, looking at Ja'far. "You don't think they would have-?

Ja'far gave Sinbad an exasperated look at the question with the obvious answer. "Well, what would 'you' have done in their position?"

Wincing, Sinbad clenched his jar tightly. "Dammit."

"What?" Ino asked worriedly.

"Do you know what's happened to them?" Hinata asked.

"What's going on?" asked Ino.

Ja'far explained the situation to Ino and Hinata concerning Alibaba and now possibly and more likely than not, Morgiana, Esra, and Badr too.

"They broke into the palace!?" Ino's jaw hung open. "We've gotta go tell Sakura-

"No!" Sinbad said quickly before the women could rush to their pink haired friend. "You cannot let Sakura find out about this."

"Huh?"

Ja'far frowned, "Sinbad, what are you thinking?"

"If Sakura hears about this, she's going to go after them and I doubt that's going to help the situation with the way things are right now." Sinbad then looked back to Ino and Hinata. "I'm going to resolve this matter, but in the meantime, I need the both of you to keep Sakura away from the palace."

Ino and Hinata glanced at one another, uncertainty eminent in their eyes.

"Please, for her sake and all of ours."

* * *

The palace hallways were free from any guards, it was too quiet Alibaba had commented as they continued to run through the place that he once called home. He knew the way to the throne room, which was their final destination but they were both still on guard, while Badr had deactivated his djinn equip, Alibaba kept his activated. Of course, there was an unspoken question as to whether or not that they wouldn't be able to call on their weapons in the heat of another battle.

"We're almost there!"

Upon that declaration was the signal for yet another obstacle but by now the boy's knew to expect it even if they were hoping for no more fights. But as they recalled, there were three fighters from the Kou Empire.

The large clearing made for their next battlefield as a large figure appeared; ripping off the cloth from his face revealing a cheetah-like appearance; yet standing tall as a human would. This was yet another one of the Kou Empire's fighters, Engi.

"Stop!"

"Get out of my way!"

Alibaba ran forward ahead of Badr, swinging his sword determined to finish the battle as quickly as possible. He fiercely raised his sword and then brought it down on the sword that Engi held in defense and the blade was sliced through as if it were soft rubber.

Badr didn't take too much time to admire his friend's attack as he wants for the strike as well but unlike Alibaba whose sword was solid, Badr's was more flexible in a sense and it was not the kind of weapon the boy was use to wielding. He had never been taught to use anything remotely similar to the kind of Katana he had now and he much rather preferred the double katana from before. He summoned his weapon and then swung out his sword towards Engi, hitting him across his stomach and cracking his armor as he was flown back.

Engi emerged from the rubble shortly after though, using the residue to counter quickly, he leaped into the air and Alibaba and Badr moved in quick to counter. Badr, who was able to use chakra to jump into the air just as high as Enshin. The two clashed mid-air as Engi drew his second blade on his hip to counter Badr's attack but before the blade reached his opponent, Badr's djinn equip vanished as it came, in a ray of light.

"What?" the boy gasped.

Engi smirked and was more than eager to strike, "You're out of magoi!"

Badr was barely able to maneuver himself in the air to avoid a fatal infliction as his chest was grazed by the sword before he dropped back on the ground.

Alibaba then went to attack Engi next but his magoi had also been depleted from their battles and on account of their amount of control over their own power. Engi and Alibaba then clashed and it was obvious who would be the decisive winner of things remained as were.

'It's not over though!'

Badr drew on Vapula's power, summoning the two katana (with much strain) in his hands and sped towards Engi to team with Alibaba in order to hopefully overpower their opponent on account of their number even though it hadn't gone that well the first time. Even as the two clashed with one another it was difficult to hold out against Engi who was clearly a far more experienced fighter and he also had a lot more power than he appeared.

"Badr!" Alibaba called to alert, realizing that there was still one last hope in order to defeat their opponent. When Badr was able to glance at Alibaba, he pulled out a canteen filled with oil and Badr understood immediately what he wanted to be done.

Alibaba stepped back, allowing Badr to overtake the fight but it wasn't' for long as Alibaba threw the canteen forward, when it landed in front of Badr, he sliced through it and then backed away. Alibaba then rushed forward running his blade along the ground to create a spark from the friction and ignite the flames for the oil.

"Playing with fire won't help you!" Engi exclaimed, barely blinking as the flames surrounded him but then Alibaba drew the flames in with his sword and that had created enough magoi for him to bring out his sword.

Alibaba then slashed straight through Engi, cutting him in half. He collapsed as the sword vanished again back to its initial form.

"You alright Alibaba?" Badr asked, the feeling of fatigue washing over him as well after the battle but he did his best not to show it to his friend.

"Yeah…" Alibaba inhaled sharply. "Let's hurry up,"

"I hope Esra and Morgiana are doing alright out there."

* * *

What became clear to Esra and Morgiana as they fought against the creature in the plaza was that they not only appeared demonic but they might of well have been as there was no end to them in their regenerative abilities. No matter how many times the girl's attacks cut them down to size, they simply returned intact and in larger numbers. It was more of an annoyance than anything else, no matter how many punches or kicks were delivered, they would continue to persist and it was something that Esra most of all was not fond of.

"This isn't working!" Esra exclaimed finally after she violently kicked one of the monkeys into his other brethren and so on until a small path was created but then quickly covered as more of them emerged and launched themselves at Esra without hesitance or concern for their own wellbeing.

"Maybe if we can take them down all at once!" Morgiana said, standing back to back with Esra.

Esra grimaced, she knew that there was no chance of her being able to do that as she was right now; her mother could probably take out all of these creatures with one swift punch to the ground-she heard that her mother had done so before during the war and other battles but Esra knew she was nowhere close to grasping that kind of power yet.

Morgiana thought about the method that Masrur had used to clear the way of all those Fog Troupe members that night, expelling a force that pushed them all back like paper in the wind. Drawing back, Morgiana pushed on her foot to launch herself forward on the ground, attempting to break through the numbers of monkeys only to find that she had not the speed nor power for something like that. She was still young and in result, her power was still that of an adolescent than a full grown Fanalis.

"Morgiana" Era called, "We can do this."

Morgiana looked up at the four towers surrounding the plaza, then she looked at Esra. It was then that she realized that they were not alone.

"Esra." Morgiana shouted over at her friend who was still fending off the monkeys. "Follow me!"

Morgiana lept into the air and started propelling herself from one of the towering structures to the next and the next, around the plaza. Esra soon followed after understanding without words as she followed Morgiana. The two girls were launching themselves around the plaza in a square.

Enshin watched them moved around, "Running away are you?"

The girls continued to propel until Morgiana decided they had conducted enough speed and power for their next attack and then the two threw themselves forward as they did that time at the thieves hideout in order to break their chains. They catapulted down, creating a powerful force that cleared most of the smaller monkeys on impact and damaging the plaza.

After landing, Esra then spun on her heels and crouched down, feeling her knees scrape against the shattered stone grounds, she interlocked her hands together tightly and then Morgiana ran towards her at full speed before stepping onto her open hands, Esra them used her strength and chakra to propel Morgiana into the air straight towards Enshin.

Morgiana let out a loud cry, her leg extended as she emerged from the cloud of dust and her whole body starting with her foot crushed straight into Enshin but the speed was so great that Morgiana tore through him without getting a drop of blood on her. She then landed heavily on the ground, along with Enshin.

His defeat resulted in the determent of most of his counterparts that were crushed under the crumbling tower structures that were unable to hold against both of the girl's force. Then they went to finish the job.

* * *

Sakura was biting her nails, worried that both of her children and their friends seemed to suddenly be missing for the last few hours. She had searched the entire hideout but their presence was lost there. Ino and Hinata had also been scouting but had come back telling her that they weren't able to find her children either. But what seemed odd to her was that they suddenly seemed disinterested in finding them.

"I'm sure they're fine Sakura," Ino told her, keep her eyes away from the pinkettes. "They're probably just with their friends hanging out around the city. They wouldn't go far."

Hinata nodded, "Y-Yes, you shouldn't worry like this."

Sakura was trailing quickly through the corridors, glancing into every room she passed but with no results, "Maybe they said something to Sinbad. I'm going to go talk to him."

Ino and Hinata stiffened, glancing to one another behind the pinkette expressing their panic.

"Um, we already went and he hasn't seen them either," Hinata said quickly.

"Yeah, besides he isn't here anyway," Ino added

Her gut told Sakura that something was very off about this, first Ino and Hinata seemed to be constantly tracking with her for the last hour and they hadn't mentioned they had gone to see Sinbad regarding Badr and Esra's whereabouts.

"Okay, what's Sinbad busy doing then?" Sakura folded her arms in front of her, waiting for her friends to respond and not missing the small beads of sweat on their foreheads.

"He….." Ino trailed looking at Hinata, mirroring her nervous expression. "He said something about a meeting…."

Sakura cleared her throat, "Okay, I am convinced that there is something you two are not telling me."

Ino gave a shaky snicker, "What makes you say that Sakura?"

Narrowing her eyes, Sakura was about to open her mouth when he heard some people walking down the hall, a group of women speaking in vocal whispers.

"Is it true that prince Alibaba went to the palace?"

"Yes. He's going to confront the king of Balbadd."

Ino and Hinata appeared to have grown visibly pale when Sakura turned back to them, her eyes shining dangerously with warning that their throats felt dry at the pinkettes glance.

"Okay…let's try this again." Sakura paused, inhaling softly. "Where are Badr and Esra?"

* * *

The smell and metallic taste of blood was fresh in the air when Badr and Alibaba entered the throne room. Dozens of guards standing around in the center there was a scatter of bodies, ripped to shreds, men wearing the guards uniform painted in deep red nearly beyond recognition. The crater in the middle of the floor disrupted the décor of the straight polished bricks that made up the room. Leading to a staircase where the throne stood, sat a short, burly man with unimpressive dark hair and eyes; this was the king of Balbadd, Ahbmad.

Alibaba's older half-brother.

"What the…?" Badr held his breath in vain to ignore the stench of death in the room.

"Hmph Banker, it seems that elite guard was rather useless." Ahbmad scoffed to a man standing a little way at the bottom of the stairs, dressed in a black cloak and carrying a wooden staff. He had a very odd face with contrasting eyes, one big, one small.

"Yes but it looks like the battle has drained them of their magoi." The Banker observed the two young males, his eyes particularly fixated on Badr.

'This hajin is strong.'

Alibaba held out his arms, taking down whatever defenses he had, deliberately making himself vulnerable and Badr followed his example as the guards hoarded around them.

"We don't need our djinn's power anymore." Alibaba declared. "The people here are different from those monsters, they are citizens of Balbadd!"

Ahbmad did not appear wavered by Alibaba's sincerity and ordered the guards to kill both Alibaba and Badr where they stood. The guards were however appeared taken aback by the declaration but they hesitantly moved forward, pointing their spears.

"Alibaba…." Badr trailed glancing around them.

"I am here as a prince to speak to Ahbmad! I don't want to fight." To prove his declaration as truth, Alibaba and Badr sheathed and retracted their weapons. "Do you all really think things are okay as they are right now!? I'm sure you all realized a long time ago how messed up this country is!"

"Kill him," Ahbmad repeated, refusing to allow Alibaba's words to sink. "He's nothing but trash from the slums."

The tips of the spears were brought down on Badr and Alibaba' forcing them to the ground and Badr was about to fight back when Sahbmad who had been watching from on top beside Ahbmad, he stood in front of him.

"STOP. Let them go!"

Ahbmad looked at his brother standing in front of him, with his eyes downcast as usual. "Sahbmad? You should sit down."

"Brother…" Sahbmad trembled as he took too long to respond, taking the outburst as nothing more than a meaningless flutter, he ordered again for the guards to kill Alibaba and Badr. That was when Sahbmad's voice raised and he called to Barkak-a long time soldier, Alibaba's tutor and friend to the former King of Balbadd Rashid. Sinbad and Sakura knew him as well, as he was with Rashid when the two had first met the king.

"Barkak, stop the palace guard!"

No more said was the instruction heeded; Badr and Alibaba felt the weight of the blades placed to pin them down, leave in nearly an instant. Ahbmad had thus gone into a frenzy, standing up from his throne, he held up his staff.

"Everyone don't listen to this fool! He's nothing but palace drapery! A coward who can't even open his mouth when it comes to politics!"

Sahbmad gathered himself enough to take the staff that Ahbmad held and declare to everyone, "I order you as Deputy King of Balbadd! The third prince Alibaba and the king's conversation is not to be disturbed! Put your weapons away immediately!"

Ahbmad glared at his younger brother, his left eye twitching from annoyance and frustrations. "Damn you Sahbmad, do you want a coup d'état?"

All the deputy king did in response was turn silently to his brother knowing that it was Alibaba's turn to take the reins of this situation and hopefully finally end it all. Now free, Alibaba moved forward, "Ahbmad! I've come to change the status quo of this country!"

* * *

Morgiana and Esra had taken their time finishing off the hybrid monkey creatures, their numbers were large but their spirits could not regenerate after the loss of their commander, his corpse lying there in two on the ground not too far from the hybrid elephant creature that was nearly unrecognizable since being sliced in two. After a few short minutes, most had submitted and were cowering, lowering themselves on the ground and refusing to get up.

Esra sighed, extending her arms out and then turned to Morgiana who was coming back after finishing off. They smiled triumphantly at one another.

"I see you're done here," Morgiana said, impressed.

Esra grinned, rubbing the back of her head. "I'm glad I was able to be useful. I just hope that idiot brother of mine is helping Alibaba too."

"I'm sure he is."

There was a brief silence, Esra held up her arm, her palm spread wide and Morgiana looked at her with question.

"Hold up your hand like this." Morgiana did so with little hesitance while still oblivious, Esra then slapped her hand against Morgiana's palm; there was a small sound.

"It's a high-five; something we do to greet or celebrate with a friend," Esra explained. "Usually two people bring their hands to hit lightly together but…."

Morgiana stared at her palm where she thought she could still feel the sensation of Esra's hand and smiled before holding it up again. "High-five."

Esra understand and held out her hand again for another high-five, their hands connected again and they held it.

"What are you two doing?"

The voice they heard was melodiously toned with a warning and a thickening aura of anger; as they turned around they found their fears were validated as the two girls gazed up at Ino, Hinata, and Sakura.

"Oh no."

"Oh yes!" Sakura snapped, holding her hand at her waist. "You two have a lot of explaining to do. And where are Badr and Alibaba?"

Esra gave a nervous laugh, "Funny story...

* * *

Ahbmad glared at his young brother Sahbmad and then a daunting realization fell over him, "It was you who leaked that information to the Fog Troupe wasn't it?"

"Yes." He admitted, hearing Ahbmad scoff.

"Have you lost your mind?"

"You're the one who's crazy," stated Sahbmad, doing his best to hold his voice from shaking. "You're planning on signing the people of Balbadd into slavery at the ceremony tomorrow."

That statement seemed to shock most of the guards who were unaware of the king's intentions for the marriage with the Kou Empire's princess.

"Why are you doing this? Do you want to become king in my stead?" Ahbmad demanded, standing from his throne once again. Sahbmad denied his brother's claim stating that he had not the intention nor the capability but this response only further irked Ahbmad.

"You caused a Coup de tat as Deputy King. How are you going to take responsibility for it?"

Ahbmad then shoved his brother to face all of the spectators, demanding him to see what lies in front of a king's eyes. Stating that it was not only the men before them that needed to be answered to but all those people outside the palace whom he had to answer the expectations too.

"If you take the crown from me, you will have to answer to the expectations of all of the people of Balbadd," Ahbmad smirked, watching as Sahbmad's form trembled. "And they will hang onto your every word."

The staff in Sahbmad's hand fell and he himself sunk to his knees, trembling with anxious nerves.

"That's right, you can't do it! You're a coward afraid of speaking in front of others."

"Oh shut up!" Badr exclaimed, "As if you know what it means to meet the expectations of your people when you're going to sell them into slavery! Because you were too stupid to see the trap set for you! The only cowered here is you?"

"Who do you think you are talking to you lowly peasant!?" Ahbmad pointed at Badr.

"Ahbmad!" Alibaba sneered, stepping up the stairs towards the two kings. "Sahbmad is not a coward; he risked his life to come to the Fog Troupe's hideout to talk to me. And he just took control of the situation to save my life!"

Ahbmad moved from his position and went to grab a sword from one of the guards, charging towards Alibaba and Sahbmad. As he swung the sword, it was deflected out of his hands. Badr had summoned one of his katana and threw it at Ahbmad's sword to knock it out of his hands. Alibaba then went over to Ahbmad and gave him a hard smack that knocked him to the ground.

"Ahbmad, it's true that during your reign, the persistent intervention of the Kou Empire prevented you from implementing good policies. But we can no longer accept a king that allows us to be driven to a dead end like this! Use this chance to resign from the throne immediately!" Alibaba stated.

Ahbmad still persisted though, crying out orders for Alibaba's execution and yet no one would yield to his command any longer.

"I-I am the 23rd king of Balbadd, Ahb-Ahb Ahbmad Saluja…."

"You were finished a long time ago, brother." Sahbmad stated pitifully.

Then another presence made themselves known in the mess of the throne room.

"What's with all this commotion?" Kougyoku asked as she entered the throne room casually, unaffected by the sight of the bodies lying around. Ka Koubun standing diligently at her side. She had caught the attention of everyone there.

"What should we do now Alibaba? She's probably Ahbmad's fiancé!" Sahbmad exclaimed softly.

Badr and Alibaba gaped in shock at recognizing the girl.

"Alibaba; that girl…."

"Yeah I know" Alibaba whispered back to Badr.

"Oh boy…."

Kougyoku explained her presence was on account of the noise she had heard coming from the palace and decided to see what was happening for herself.

"I am Kougyoku Ren, the eighth princess of the Kou Empire. I am king Ahbmad's betrothed."

There was a fly like buzzing of murmurs around the hall at this introductory statement as concerns raised now for this newcomer who was also another complicated ingredient in the overheated pot that was Balbadd's current state.

"I apologize, I do not yet know the face of the king. Who here is king Ahbmad?" Kougyoku asked.

Undignified in manner, Ahbmad called out loudly. "I am!"

Only for a moment did Kougyoku appear taken aback before regaining her calm demeanor but then the Banker stepped in.

"About that princess. We actually don't know who the current king of Balbadd is."

The Banker elaborated that there had just been a coup de 'tat and Ahbmad was seemingly about to abdicate from the throne. This had Kougyoku deep in conflictions with herself for a moment; while she had come to this point of accepting her fate and as a means to fulfill her duty to her country and her father; she was still mindfully rebelling against the prospect of an arranged marriage.

"I have come to marry the king of Balbadd and sign the treaty our countries agreed upon." She stated absently. "My purpose will not change no matter who the king is. Please select a new king now."

Mutterings of voiceless buzzes started again and there were clippings of the same information; one was that the next succession for the throne should be Sahbmad, however, the Deputy King was quick to decline pitifully; claiming that he was not fit for that role.

"There is someone else who wanted to save this country just as much as I have."

All eyes fell upon Alibaba after Sahbmad's had.

"Will you become the new king?" asked Kougyoku Alibaba.

Badr was curious as to what Alibaba was going to do, so far he had remained quiet throughout this ordeal but he had a feeling that the time was coming and Badr could feel his heart beating with anticipation as he readied to fulfill his promise to Alibaba and support him.

The response that was given, however, was far more shocking for numerous reasons.

"I will not," Alibaba stated certainly, justifying that he was not worthy of being king either as he had enabled the incident that led to the previous kings' death and abandoned the country by running away.

"Who are you?"

"The third prince Alibaba Saluja," Alibaba stated. "I have a request to ask, as the representative of the Kou Empire."

"What is that?" Kougyoku asked, remaining composed.

"I would like you to annul the treaty of the Human Rights Transfer that was to be signed tomorrow. That treaty was agreed upon with the former king, no one else wishes for such a treaty to be signed into law."

"It appears that way but I cannot annul the treaty that was agreed upon," Kougyoku said and it wasn't in the case of spite nor the wishes of wanting the treaty to be fulfilled. It was merely a fact that Kougyoku did not actually have the power to annul the treaty. "Tomorrow, I will marry the new king-

"You won' be able to."

Kougyoku stopped, "What do you mean?"

With his bangs covering his eyes as he lowered his gaze, Alibaba spoke in a calmer more calculated tone. "You cannot because there will be no future king. The kingdom of Balbadd is to immediately cease monarch rule."

The people didn't' want a king but to live happily. That was Alibaba's argument, and that it would be possible for such a fate without a king. Ahbmad was quick to protest this suggestion of neutralizing the monarch rule but Alibaba stayed with his decision that was for the people and not for the sake of his blood.

"If a king brings nothing but suffering to the people, get rid of him. The people can choose their own representative, set up a republic and hold Congress. The people themselves should be the ones to decide how their country should be." Alibaba stated. "Let's turn Balbadd into a People's Republic with no disparity between classes! That' what I came to say in the first place!"

There was once again a chain reaction of voices clashing with one another while Alibaba spoke over them and soon they were silenced once again. Kougyoku was aware that if that happened then she would not be able to marry nor sign the treaty meant for the following day.

"And if the people allow, I want to devote my body and soul to recreate the country of Balbadd!"

Another voice thus entered a very familiar one. "Oh my, so that's your answer Alibaba?"

Sinbad stepped in what seemed to literally be out of nowhere as no one had realized his presence until now and it was hard to believe with the company he had. There were two men and one woman. One of the men had blue hair and was extremely large, taller than Masrur, the other was a man of a dark complexion that reminded Badr of the people from the Hidden Cloud and the women was a blonde with a pink tattoo on her cheek who held a constant smile.

"Sinbad!"

'Uh oh.' Badr thought that if Sinbad was here, he doubted his mother was too far behind. He needed to do this soon.

"I apologize for interrupting such important matters of state," Sinbad said, his arms confidently crossed over his chest.

"Who are those people with king Sinbad?"

"They are diplomatic directors of three countries in the alliance that I command."

Sahbmad asked why they were here.

"To recommend Prince Alibaba Saluja to become the king of Balbadd." Alibaba did not flinch, knowing that Sinbad was angling for this. "But you thought of a completely different method."

"I apologize for going off by myself,"

Sinbad raised his eyebrow and looked over at Badr, "Not entirely by yourself it seems."

Badr stepped down until he was standing beside Alibaba. "Well, when Alibaba told me what he was intent on doing; I wanted to help him by supporting him."

"Support him how?" asked Kougyoku.

Badr glanced at Alibaba, "You'll have to listen to Alibaba first before I make my statement."

Sinbad could detect something at hand but he made no initiative to stop what was happening. Although he wondered what Badr's intention was considering the conversation they had last night; it should have given him the incentive to stop Alibaba from coming to the palace on his own.

Kougyoku asked what was meant by recreating Balbadd and didn't fail to point out that all of Balbadd's rights have been handed to the Kou Empire as collateral for their loans.

"I know that. This country owns nothing and even if its organization would change those rights will not return." Alibaba said with his head down. "Therefore I would like you to pretend that those transfer of rights didn't happen."

The illogical statement was in such conflict with Alibaba's own tone of voice that it was appalling when conceiving the idea. And Alibaba himself knew this but he refused to surrender.

"As of being recreated, the Kingdom of Balbadd wouldn't exist." Alibaba pointed. "As such it does not inherit the old treaties established by the Kou Empire."

Alibaba knew that what he was saying could be in the simplest terms written off as nothing but nonsense but there was one thing he had to play on here.

"The fact remains that you still don't have anyone to marry tomorrow." He told Kougyoku "Will you consider bringing my request to annul all former treaties back to the Kou Emperor first before we proceed?"

"What nonsense." Kougyoku averted her gaze, appearing indifferent but Alibaba's hunch was soon proven fact in her next statement. "Is what my father will say when I report this."

"You mission to marry the next king of Balbadd cannot be fulfilled. Please return home."

"The Kou Empire's goal was to gain country of this land completely without much bloodshed," Kougyoku stated, she then smiled. "If he is unable to, he may turn to militaristic methods."

Badr decided that this was the time for him to interject into the conversation. "But he wouldn't take that action if he believed the risk was too great a cost for conquest."

Kougyoku frowned, turning to Badr; she recognized him for that night and realized that this was the boy that had gone up crying 'mom' to Sakura. So why he was here was baffling for numerous reasons.

"What exactly are you saying?" Kougyoku asked. "Balbadd does not have a strong military hold that can't compare to the Kou Empire's armed forces."

Curiosity had Sinbad hold his tongue as he observed Badr, there was something about the way his expression had turned solid and severe. An expression that would usually not suit a ten-year-old and yet it was fitting for him.

"No; but The Seven Sea's Alliance does." Badr pointed out.

Kougyoku and Ka Koubun gaped at Badr, "Wh-what?"

Badr did not lose his strong face as all eyes and ears were now tuned to focus only on him. Including Sinbad. "The Republic of Balbadd will join the Seven Sea's alliance. Surely the Emperor wouldn't recklessly act then, correct?"

"W-What are you talking about?" Kougyoku spluttered, "Balbadd join the Seven Seas alliance?"

'What are you thinking, Badr?' Sinbad wondered. He wasn't against the idea at all, in fact, it was rather a brilliant move instigated by the child. The only issue was that he was the one to make the declaration, and therefore it was null and void unless Sinbad backed his cause. Surely Badr must believe that Sinbad would do that-what was dwelling on the young king's mind now was how could he be so faithful?

"It true." Alibaba chided in, realizing that now was the time for him to follow Badr's lead. "Balbadd's has always had close relations with Sindria."

Badr nodded.

"Is that true?" asked Kougyoku

"Ye-Yes." Ka Koubun stuttered "But that has nothing to do with the current situation, aside from that on what grounds does this boy have to make such a declaration when it should be the King of Sindria making that claim?"

"That is true." Kougyoku pointed out, glancing at Sinbad. "Would you truly allow Balbadd to join the Seven Sea's alliance based on a child's declaration, King Sinbad?"

"He will," Badr stated before Sinbad could say another word.

Kougyoku glared at Badr, "I believe that we've established, you do not have the power nor the right to make such a declaration."

"Actually, I believe I do."

"On what grounds?" Kougyoku asked, visibly irritated now. "What position can you hold yourself to that statement?"

Badr did not waver, flinch or hesitate in his answer, well aware that he was about to shake the room.

"As the son of the King of Sindria and its first prince."

Alibaba and Sinbad's jaws fell simultaneously in disbelief. There was a hitch of breaths that echoed around the throne room before everything went silent, that the noise from the people outside the palace could be heard once again.

..

..

..

..

..

…

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

The room had erupted into the buzzing of bees that have just had their hive fall from the tree and crack open on the ground. Complete chaos. The voices were trying to overpower one another so that they would be heard when exclaiming their thoughts that were too shocking to remain within the confines of their mind.

Sinbad still said nothing while everyone seemed to have something pertaining to the same question. His diplomats from the alliance were just as stunned. And Sinbad didn't know which way to turn because he was being attacked from all directions; he glanced around him, blinking rapidly.

"Is this true my king?"

"Since when do you have a child?"

"Is it the truth?"

It was a few seconds later during the commotion that Sinbad realized what had just taken place and for once he was speechless in turn. He did not need the explanation on how Badr had come to realize this because the expression on the boy's face told Sinbad instantly that he knew this truth for a long while and he was simply waiting for the chance to confront Sinbad about this. It seemed that he had chosen the best and worst setting for the opportunity. What made Sinbad's stomach sink further was when he recalled his conversation he had with the boy last night and that he had been manipulated; Badr wasn't giving Sinbad information; he was manipulating Sinbad into giving him the information he could use to instigate his own agenda.

'Clever kid.' Sinbad then paled. 'Oh, Sakura's going to kill me.'

"Wait-Wait-Wait." Ka Koubun stepped in front of Badr, "King Sinbad isn't married nor has there been any mention of a child."

Badr was tranquil and calm in his response. "My mother was a companion of King Sinbad's years ago but she left before my twin sister and I were born. Our identities have only been placed recently and that is why you wouldn't have known."

Kougyoku then quickly interjected, realizing another fact that had been temporarily cleared from her mind. "Wait, your mother isn't she-

"I believe you know her princess Kougyoku, her names Sakura Haruno," Badr stated.

That had caused an even greater eruption from those who knew who Sakura was, that included Sinbad's diplomat who had worked closely with Sinbad since he was a teenager and they knew well enough of the only partner he ever had. It was a strong belief that she was going to be the queen of Sindria; it was a prediction of anyone who had heard Sinbad's goals all those years ago.

"I believe that this may also be personal grounds for you to consider the proposition. As my mother did have close relations with your family, princess Kougyoku." Badr pointed out.

Kougyoku surprising herself managed to hold onto a shred of composure; she looked at Sinbad

"Is this true? Is he really your son, King Sinbad?"

All attention had fallen on Sinbad now and for once he did not want it. The true answer to this question was going to create a long path of further-possible disrupting consequences, but the false answer would also erupt a chaos that would revolve around Badr and most likely Esra and Sakura.

"Yes, it is," Sinbad confirmed, his arms crossed strongly and chin nearly touching his chest. He looked up with firm eyes. "He is my son."

Before another chaotic buzzing could begin the hall was silenced by yet another new voice.

"What's going on here?"

Sinbad swallowed, 'I'm dead.'

 **There you have it everyone. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and look forward to the next, it took some time to finish. I'm going to try and get the next chapter finished as soon as possible but I have a lot of side projects I've been working on.**

 **On a side note, I'll be placing my stories on Wattpad in the near future and will alert you all when that happens.**

 **DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW!**


	17. Present: Revolution part 2

**Hey everyone! I finally completed this chapter so read steadily and enjoy!**

* * *

The entire palace throne room went silent as Sakura, Ino, Hinata, Morgiana, and Esra stood at the threshold of the entrance. After Sakura had taken care of whatever injuries the girls had receive, all of them headed inside the palace to catch up with Alibaba and Badr. The eyes that fell on Sakura of those who recognized her were not easy to miss and it made the pinkette suspicious when her question wasn't answered.

'Oh no.' Sinbad could feel his palms begging to sweat as he stared at the pinkette that had entered the room.

"What is going on here?" Sakura repeated and when her eyes fell on Sinbad, she saw him jolt slightly when their gazes met. She also didn't miss the three ambassadors, she knew two of the three, Narmes from Heliohapt and Parsine from Artemyra.

"She really is back," whispered Parsine.

Esra and Morgiana quickly ran over to Badr and Alibaba to get the layout of what had happened-and partially to get away from Sakura in fear of a dark foreshadowing that had to come.

"What is happening right now?" Esra whispered.

"What is mom doing here?" Badr hissed back, then turned to Sinbad whispering "Did you tell her?"

Sinbad shook his head, whispering back. "I didn't even tell her I was coming here."

Sakura, Ino, and Hinata stepped into the throne room. Sakura was skeptic with the eyes that followed her but she did not deter and went directly to Sinbad determined to get an answer concerning the obvious chaos that must have erupted in this room.

Parsine, Narmes, and Imsisika, watched silently yet somewhat eagerly from behind Sinbad as the familiar girl stepped forward. Willing to withhold their own greetings and introductions for the women, knowing that there was a long line of priorities that needed to be settled first.

"What happened?"

Sinbad sheepishly took a step back, "Well, we were just verifying the claim Badr made for the new Republic of Balbadd to be joining the Seven Sea's alliance."

Ino discretely covering her mouth with her hair leaned towards Hinata, whispering softly. "I think we came at a bad time."

To which the lavender-eyed women nodded in response; although they had just arrived it was clear that tensions were high and their presence just heightened it.

"Anything else?" Sakura asked, barely blinking.

Sinbad drew in a soft breath and looked at Badr, "Well I might have also had to verify that Badr is….my son. After he made that claim."

Esra's eyes grew wide and she turned to her brother with her mouth hanging open, "You did what!? I thought we weren't going to say anything!"

Instead of the initial shocked-if not somewhat violent reaction that Sinbad, Badr, Esra, Ino, and Hinata were expecting, Sakura remained eerily calm but that did nothing to extinguish their fear for what would come next.

When Sakura looked back at Sinbad, he was surprised at what she said next. "I'm sorry, for the trouble he must have caused."

It didn't take didn't take Sakura very long to figure out what had happened; clearly, both Badr and Esra had known since the night she spoke with Sinbad and revealed the truth to Ino and Hinata. Although everyone was so distracted by the whole situation that they failed to notice they were being spied on.

"Uh, what?" Sinbad couldn't stop himself from asking, nor could he mask his bewilderment as to why Sakura wasn't acting like an angry fire-ant.

"I'm sorry, for the trouble he caused."

"Sakura," Kougyoku called and she stepped away to meet the princess, who was trying to keep an indifferent expression. "Are…these children-are they truly yours and Sinbad's?"

Sakura answered without hesitance; she knew there was no way around this but the truth when both Badr and Sinbad had just verified their relation and she certainly couldn't undo that, especially with this crowd that was waiting for the final verification.

"Yes, they are."

There was another wave of murmurs that followed along amongst the individuals inside. Ino and Hinata gazed at the crowd and realized the severity of the situation which made them even more suspicious about the way Sakura was reacting towards it.

Kougyoku seemed taken aback by the abrupt response, then she lowered her gaze. "I see."

Sakura smiled softly at the young princess, she placed her hand on Kougyoku's shoulders in a comforting manner. "I'm sorry. I can't really explain things well under these circumstances but that is the truth of the matter. I'm sure my son must have caused you a lot of trouble as well."

The admiring gleam in Kougyoku's expression from when she first met Sakura returned in that instant for while there was a lot of turmoil yet to be produced, it didn't change her feelings towards the pink-haired women. That itself was a mystery to Kougyoku, who couldn't deny that even after the gap that time had created between her and Sakura, it did nothing to destroy the respect and admiration she had for the older women. Only that like everyone else, she was entirely surprised by this development. And when Sakura apologized, Kougyoku then realized her own position right now. Had it not been for Sakura's son and the third prince with their declarations and promise of ending the monarchy in Balbadd, she would be getting married tomorrow.

With the way things were at this moment, she felt it best to retreat and escape these tensions.

Kougyoku then sighed and said to Ka Koubun. "It seems it would be best to leave this to his Majesty to decide the next course of action."

"What!?"

"I do have a condition," Kougyoku said, turning to Sinbad with a small glare "If it is true that Balbadd will be joining the Seven Seas Alliance, I suggest you come to the Kou Empire and prove it, King Sinbad."

Sinbad nodded, "I most certainly will."

Sakura did not miss the blush on Kougyoku's face when she looked at Sinbad. It had been the same that night when she first saw him as well but Sakura had been too engorged with her own shock to notice and Sakura couldn't help but smile at the familiar situation.

'She's definitely grown up.'

Kougyoku then wrapped her arms around Sakura, giving her a brief hug. "Goodbye Sakura-nee."

"Take care of yourself Kougyoku."

"Oh, and don't worry, I'll tell Kouen-nee-sama I met with you. I'm sure he'll want to see you too."

Sakura just gave a wry smile, "Great."

Esra watched as Kougyoku and her attendant left the throne room, before glancing over at everyone she knew.

"We're in trouble."

* * *

Of course, even after Kougyoku departed; there was still a lot of tension and unspoken questions, but the list of happenings in that short span of time was too much for everyone to address all at once. The celebration of the Kou's absence had erased most of the thoughts on Badr's proclamation, however, Sakura and Sinbad were far from that party. After Sinbad dismissed his diplomats (who were rather eager to return to their countries and inform their leaders of the news of this latest development), he had gathered with Alibaba, Badr, Esra, and Morgiana to hear the full story on what had just happened today because it was a heavy layer to break through.

"Alright, I suppose it's time we address the elephant in the room." Was what Sinbad said when he returned to the group that consisted of Badr, Esra, Ino, Hinata, Sakura, Alibaba and Morgiana. While they were still rather crowded in the throne room, the guards were taking care of their fallen comrades and their ears had blunted to the conversation.

"Actually, the elephants split in half in the plaza," Badr chided to which Sakura gave him one of her warning expressions that silenced him instantly.

Pinching the bridge of her nose, Sakura asked for the explanation regarding Badr's outburst. Alibaba did most of the explaining to the point of his intentions in coming to the palace-aside from the part involving Cassim and the Fog Troupe and then what lead to Badr's declaration which had turned the room upside down.

"Sneaking into the royal palace." Sinbad then turned from Alibaba to Badr. "Getting me to give you political information to use to power your own agenda's. You two sure are reckless." Sinbad reprimanded; to which Sakura could not help but raise her eyebrow.

"Remind you of anyone?" Sakura didn't give Sinbad a chance at a comeback because she was already addressing Badr and Esra. "Do you two realize the kind of dangers you put yourselves in? What were you thinking?" Sakura asked, glaring down at her children.

"We're sorry." The twins muttered simultaneously, keeping their eyes lowered.

"Esra," The girl addressed seemed to turn to stone when her mother's eyes landed on her, "You should have told me that Badr had gone to the palace with Alibaba instead of sneaking out and chasing after them. You could've been killed fighting those monsters."

"But-But Morgiana and I were together, and we were able to defeat them-

"It doesn't matter," Sakura said so sharply that everyone had to take a step back, "You could have been killed. I trained you to defend yourself from danger, not to go running straight towards it. You put yourself, your brother and your friends at risk like that."

"I'm sorry." Esra looked away and Morgiana put a hand on her shoulder to comfort her.

"And Badr," Sakura inhaled, everyone visibly stilled around her. "Do you even realize the kind of trouble you caused, not just by breaking into the palace but also with that declaration of yours?"

"Well, it's not like you were going to tell us the truth!" Badr attempted to counter, although at this point his voice seemed weak as did his stature in comparison to Sakura.

"That doesn't mean you have the right to announce it, especially with everything else going on! It's not appropriate. You took advantage of the situation! And regardless of what Sinbad and I decided; it was still wrong of you to confront us like this!" Sakura raised a voice slightly and Badr immediately seemed to back away. Not in fear but rather understanding.

"He did it to help me though," Alibaba chided in, taking a careful step forward. "We all knew the truth but we weren't going to say anything until Balbadd's issues were resolved. Badr did this to help solidify my arguments with the Kou. He told me he was willing to help me with this, I just didn't understand it at the time. So please don't be too hard on him."

"Alibaba," Sakura paused, briefly closing her eyes. "Badr has a habit of doing things like this, he might have been meaning to help you but he also meant to help himself. He knows how to manipulate a situation to his favor. That isn't grounds for praising him."

There was the briefest moment of silence between the group; as if no one knew what to say or was afraid that whatever they were going to say would be incorrect and greatly chastised by Sakura who was clearly leading this conversation. But it appeared that Sakura wasn't going to say anything; rather, she was waiting for someone else to speak.

"I'm sorry." Badr's shoulders started to shake, his fists clenched tightly at his side, his voice softly. "I'm sorry mom."

"Badr, you've pulled a lot of stunts in the past but this one really disappoints me. You may be a child, but you do know better" Sakura stated coldly. "And you should also know that I'm not the only one you should be apologizing to."

Badr didn't say anything in response to Sakura, only turned his body towards Sinbad, keeping his head down. "I'm sorry for what I did Sinbad."

Sinbad didn't realize how shallow he had made his breathing simply in the fear of diverting Sakura's attention inhaled deeply. He realized that Badr was patiently standing in front of him, with his head bowed waiting for his response to the boy's apology. In that instant, Sinbad felt like he had been put on the spot.

He smiled, "That's okay Badr. I can understand where you were coming from. And I'm not really upset about this. So don't worry about it, okay? The truths out now." Sinbad glanced at Sakura, smiling slightly.

Sakura's face shifted, her eyes no longer hard as granite and her feature soft to suite her. She kneeled in front of the twins. "So you little eavesdroppers knew all along?"

The silence was like a thousand words to Sakura as she looked at the picture before her. Badr and Esra were not sure what to expect from their mother at this point but that didn't make them any less surprised when Sakura wrapped her arms around them and pulled them to her. That broke their last barrier of strength and the two sunk into their mother's arms, trying to keep their tears at bay.

"I'm sorry you had to find out that way." Sakura soothingly stroked her children's hair. "And next time, don't be afraid to come to me instead of thinking you have to do things like this. It's my responsibility to take care of you. Okay?"

"Y-yes…"

"Yeah…." Badr mumbled, sniffing softly.

Sinbad returned his attention to Alibaba, realizing that it was probably going to take a moment longer for Sakura to calm down the twins. He himself didn't really know what he could do at this points and decided to change occupations.

"Well; what are you going to do now?"

Alibaba explained that he wanted to implement his plan to turn Balbadd into a Republican as soon as possible, for that he needed representatives. He wanted to copy Kashugan in the central-desert that switched to a republic. "I believe that Balbadd should become a pure democracy where all people can equally participate in government."

"I wonder how that will go." The Banker spoke, getting everyone's attention. "I have seen many countries, and in all republics, a ruler always pushes himself above the people and cause the republic to fail. I'm sure a new king will rise again in this country."

"Even so, I want to create a country without inequality," Alibaba stated without deterring.

One of the guards appeared in front of Alibaba, kneeling in front of him and Sinbad, "Prince Alibaba. The people of Balbadd are pressing in on the palace. We can no longer hold them back."

Sakura gazed on as Alibaba took his leave and then turned back to Badr and Esra, who were still busy drying their tears. She wiped their faces with the back of her hand.

"Well, now that things seem to be calming down here, I think it's time for you two to do the same huh?"

Badr and Esra nodded, wiping the corner of their eyes.

"We're sorry mom," Esra said again.

"So am I, I should've told you both the truth. Then maybe you wouldn't have pulled these stunts." Sakura smiled, "And I will take that into account when I dole out your punishments."

The siblings gaped up at their mother, "Punishments?"

"Why are we being punished?" Badr asked,

Sakura raised her eyebrow at the twins "Really? Don't think that being in another world doesn't make you liable for your actions."

There was grumbling but no complaints as Sakura sent the two off to their friend's, allowing her to speak with Ino and Hinata.

"Wow," Ino exhaled gently, glancing over at Badr and Esra who were following Alibaba to the terrace. "Things have just gotten a lot more complicated haven't they?"

"I'll say," Sakura sighed.

"I'm surprised you were so composed Sakura," said Hinata,

"Yeah, I especially thought you would be mad at King Sinbad for having us keep Badr and Esra's whereabouts from you."

Resting her hands on her hips, Sakura looked over the group of children and Sinbad, "Well it's not like it was his responsibility, to begin with; he just took it upon himself. I can't blame him for their actions even though they do take after him in so many ways."

* * *

The Banker, who was watching everything took one final look at Badr, Esra and Sakura, a moment of thought before he vanished into black without anyone noticing his loss of presence.

'This is far from finished. Darkness cannot be destroyed this easily. As they shall soon see.'

* * *

Alibaba went to announce to the people who had passed through the guards and the gates into the palace, eagerly waiting for Alibaba to respond to them. He went out and in a great voice gave a pressing speech that truly struck the people of Balbadd lightly with hope and the prospect of a better future. He was explaining that the country will be recreated as a republic. Where the people would rule over themselves-as they seemingly have been doing since Ahbmad's rule. This prospect at first seemed too unnatural for a country that has been ruled by a monarchy for years but when Alibaba offered them the prospect of carving out a path for their own happiness, the people cheered gratefully.

"You were right," Sinbad whispered to Sakura as they stood to the side, watching Alibaba as he stood on the balcony listening to the people's cheers. "He found another way."

Sakura smirked, "Thought you'd know not to doubt me." Then the smile vanished as quickly as it came. "But….is it really over?"

"What do you mean? Do you know something or….?"

Sakura shook her head, "I'm not sure, it's just a feeling….."

It did not feel like it, this seemed ironically enough anti-climactic to her. It was odd though because this would have been the perfect ending to a fairy tale. Then Sakura remembered why she thought this wasn't right.

Reality was not a fairy tale.

Badr noticed a certain group heading towards the palace, through the crowd. He tapped Alibaba's arm and directed his attention. "Alibaba, look."

Alibaba narrowed his eyes on the crowd until he pinpointed to who the boy was directing him at. "Cassim."

* * *

Cassim emerged through the crowd with the few members of the Fog Troop, wielding their swords in hand. Even Cassim was impressed by the spectacle Alibaba managed to make by himself; all for the sake of the people who supposedly would've been pulled into battle if he hadn't taken a stand beforehand. However, Cassim was far from deterred in his own goals; to turn Balbadd into a bloodbath.

First, he started by playing along with the crowd in their delight at the prospect of Balbadd becoming a country and that was once the kings were going to be given equally to the people. He was so convincing, even Alibaba appeared to believe him.

"I heard Balbadd's going to become a republic. That what was once the king's country is going to be given equally to its people." Cassim's eyes hardened, "What a load of crap. It belongs to us now? But wasn't this country built on the blood and sweat of its people?" Cassim raved, throwing his hand out, the other covered with his blade, eager to spill blood. "Wasn't it ours to begin with? Who destroyed this country through incompetent policies? Who made us put up with a terrible ruler?"

Bringing in the memories of the painful past, Cassim reminded the people of the days of starvation that took away so many lives of loved ones, friends and family; the heavy taxes that took more than it gave, and then he planted the final seed of despair in his cry.

"The dead won't come back! If the monarchy disappears, does the crimes of the monarchy also vanish!? Of course not!"

"This is bad," Badr took a step back from the balcony with Esra and Morgiana.

"This definitely doesn't look good." Observed Morgiana.

Sakura, Ino, and Hinata ran over to the edge of the balcony after hearing the commotion and sensing the change in atmosphere that had changed so suddenly. They looked to the crowd that had grown darker and that's when Sakura saw it; the black rukh that was shrilling around and growing around everyone.

Cassim pointed up, "Come now's the time to act! Now is the time to punish the royalty, the nobles, and the military who stole our country from us!"

The people all heeded Cassim's words just as quickly as they were to toss aside Alibaba's and charged forward, they then started attacking the guards and riots began all over. Looking to the sky's it began to turn grey, mixed with the darkness of the black rukh and dangerous storm crowds that promise unpleasant weather of other sorts. It looked unnatural to Sakura.

'What is happening?'

"Damn it, what's going on?" Sinbad hissed.

"We have to do something," Ino said.

"Yes," Hinata stated, ready to leap off the balcony; joined by Ino and Sakura who stood on the edge.

"Hold on." Sinbad called them back, "You can't go facing them alone, also Sakura you don't have your metal vessels!"

Sakura gave Sinbad a pointed look, "Since when did I rely only on my metal vessels? Have you already forgotten?"

Sinbad fell silent, although there was clearly a lot of objection in his eyes.

"Can you really get them to stop their assault?" Alibaba asked frantically,

"Count on it."

Alibaba nodded, "I want to deal with Cassim myself though."

Sakura smirked, "We'll do you one better and bring him to you." then she turned to Badr and Esra, "You two stay here!"

"But-

"STAY"

There was no further explanation and no time for a protest on sending three women straight into the battlefield as Sakura, Ino and Hinata leapt from their stands after Sakura firmly told Badr and Esra to stay where they were.

Sinbad clenched his jaw, watching them move towards the crowd. "She's still so reckless."

* * *

From on top of one of the towers of the palace, stood a single figure watching the glorious chaos erupting below him with a delighted gleam in his red eyes. Ithnan watched as the common people of Balbadd fuelled with anger and hatred. The black rukh was gathering in the skies and soon it would overtake this country.

'Soon this world shall fall into darkness.'

Ithnan then spotted Ino, Hinata, and Sakura, making their way to where the crowds were pushing their way to the palace. But this action was no cause for dismay, in fact, it caused Ithnan to smile behind his mask.

'Yes, all our plans are falling into place.'

* * *

The three women stood on top of the walls where everyone was trying to push through and were being held back by the guards. The sight of bloodshed by ordinary people; when coxed it was truly marvelling what they were willing to do in the heat of anger. Men had armed themselves with weapons, attacking the guards who weren't even retaliating but trying to defend themselves which resulted in many of them being cut down on account of their lack in numbers.

For a while, Sakura didn't move, but let her eyes scan through the crowd quickly. She heard the shrilling flutters and followed that, to where she saw a young man with purple dreadlocks and yellow eyes; Cassim. Without a doubt, she knew his face quicker than the others. He had a sword on his arm, that was easily cutting through and there seemed to be a few others with that same weapon. She couldn't help but feel some form of disappointment with how the boy had turned out; and wondered how unkind these past few years must have been to make him become like this.

But she knew that there was too much at risk to allow her emotions to overcome her at this time.

"Alright, here's the plan." Sakura looked at Ino and Hinata. She gave a quick briefing of the plan, allowing her trust in her friends' intellect to string it together in sync.

"Understood," Hinata nodded.

"Gotcha," Ino said.

Sakura and Hinata then leapt into the crowd and began by knocking out all of the men that were attacking, mostly those armed with weapons. The element of surprise was on their side and they were quick on their feet. Sakura was able to knock out people easily enough with a firm chop to the back of the neck or head, but she didn't go for any fatal attacks and Hinata followed in example. Using her Byakugan and gentle fist technique to administer swift blows, knocking out the men with one strike.

Their numbers, on the other hand, was a problem but Sakura had taken into consideration when she had given out the plan.

They weren't to harm the civilians.

The chaos, however, had spread further than anticipated; because those who had listened and had fallen for Cassim's words had gone out into the city to spread their hysteria and now there were battles waging all over Balbadd.

While Sakura and Hinata were down below attempting to thin out the crowd; Ino was standing on top of the building waiting patiently and scouting about as she was told to by Sakura; looking for her targets. When she spotted a woman with dreadlocks, her blade around her arm. The women she was looking at was Zaynab. Ino did her best not to take her eyes off of her.

"Sakura, I'm ready!" Ino cried out over the crowd. Completing her order to find a suitable target.

Sakura and Hinata moved quickly through the crowd to disperse them as fast as possible, but because they were civilians they couldn't perform an outright assault, however, they did have their targets in mind.

"Ha!"

Hinata sidestepped when Hassan came from behind her, ready to thrust his blade into her back. She saw the yellow fog coming from the blade and had the instinct not to let it touch her even though she was yet to fully understand how right her instincts were to avoid this sword's mist. For it corroded anything it touched.

When Hassan fell forward with his thrust, Hinata hit him with her palm and he went down to his knees but now the attention had fallen on the two women that were taking out the rioting crowd. The members of the Fog Troupe that had joined Cassim in his battle were but a handful, not even in the double digits but they were all equipped with magical weapons that could make up for that.

Hinata was about to run when she felt something wrap around her and start to squeeze, pinning her down; there was a black fog surrounding her like a coil. There were two men with the same sword as Cassim's using its abilities to stop the blue-haired women.

"W-What?" Hinata grimaced as her body hit the ground hard.

Ino saw this from the wall she was standing on and called out to Sakura in the crowd. "SAKURA, HINATA'S IN TROUBLE."

Sakura turned back, she jumped high into the air to find Hinata in the crowd. All heads turned up to look at her. By now the attention was off of the guards and on the girls who were taking out the men with ease.

"ENOUGH."

It seemed that the Fog Troupe had finally realized who they needed to target when the crowd thinned out. Making her way through, Sakura held out her fist crying out as she punched the ground, the force cracking the ground in the plaza, throwing everyone off balance as they failed to regain their equilibrium and wits about what had happened.

"What was that?" asked one of the men from the Fog Troupe, looking around in the cloud of dust. Sakura appeared knocking him out, disabling him from using his weapon, she then did the same to the other man, effectively freeing Hinata and helping her to her feet.

"You alright?"

"Yeah."

Hinata and Sakura stopped, as the dust cleared, revealing the crowd of men who were still standing and ready for a fight to vent out their anger that Cassim had festered. In front of that crowd was a smaller group, but they stood out as the influencers of the group. In the centre stood Cassim.

"Hey, long time no see Sakura." Cassim greeted the women casually.

"Cassim. You've grown up."

He shrugged, "That happens when ten years go by. Your kids have been looking for you."

"He found me."

"Well that's good to hear; so what exactly are you doing here?" Cassim asked, in a casual manner "Getting involved in Balbadd's affairs?"

"I'm helping some old friends; so I see you've been busy." Sakura raised her head a little higher, "What are you thinking, starting trouble like this?"

Cassim's casual demeanour started to crack as he gazed at Sakura, "You shouldn't be getting involved."

"It's too late for that." Sakura scoffed, "Cassim, what you and these people are doing here; it needs to stop now."

"We're just fighting for a greater cause. For revolution."

A thread of Sakura's composure fell with Cassim's words, "What cause? Starting a war like this? You believe that there is a cause, a point to it? You're killing for nothing."

"Careful Sakura," Cassim warned, narrowing his eyes "I'm not that same little kid you knew ten years ago."

"No, you're worse." Sakura sneered slightly, tilting her chin up. She changed her tone of voice to echo and address the people loudly. "Look at this, are you all really willing to kill violently with no purpose? When you were about to step into a new era, only to back away from it and for what? For those you lost?"

That aroused the crowd once again, as they started spitting out their own indiscretions towards Sakura.

"What would you know? You're an outsider in this country." Cassim pointed. "We cannot accept a republic when this country has shed so much blood. Those who have died will not come back to life."

"You are hypocrites who would rather let all the deaths of your loved ones mean nothing because you'll throw your lives away like this. What do you think will happen after this? You kill the military, the nobles and the monarch that has abdicated their right to rule this country and what do you gain in the end? Justice? No. You get nothing."

The crowd started to grow silent as Sakura's voice rose, their hysteria that had started to return began to dissipate once more after Sakura slammed her foot into the ground and created a small crater that served as a reminder of the destroyed plaza they were standing in.

"You'll kill for nothing and your loved ones die for nothing. You'll simply put blood on your hands and look back at this day as a useless purge. Because you are the ones turning away from change. From hope. Yes, this country's wronged you, but now what are you doing? Why are you doing this? What do you hope to gain from all of this bloodshed? Look at the bodies around you and tell me, what have you gained by doing this? Tell me, are you satisfied? Are you happy with living your lives like this because this is all you will know if you do not stop?"

Sakura glanced back at Ino, nodding her head and then to Hinata to move back to the wall until she was right under Ino. Ino put her fingers together to shape a triangle, within the frame capturing sight of Zaynab.

'Mind-transfer!'

Ino's eyes shut and her body fell forward, right in front of Hinata who caught her easily enough. That was the single and final stage of the plan to subdue the Fog Troupe and the citizens of Balbadd. Sakura waited, watching the fog Troupe members before she caught Zaynab's eye and she smirked at Sakura; to which the pinkette had to resist returning.

"Alibaba wants to speak with you. I'm going to take you to meet with him but everyone else; all the citizens have to disperse immediately."

Cassim narrowed his eyes, "And why would I agree to those terms when I can simply get into the palace by force?"

Sakura's fingers dug into her arms, "Tell me Cassim, how much do you value the members of the Fog Troupe?"

"They are my brothers and sisters; those who stood by me. I value them above everything else." Cassim smirked. "Like you said, those who abandon their mission are scum, but those who abandon their friends are worse. That saying of yours always got me through some tough times."

Sakura's eyebrow twitched before she closed her eyes, "Then this should work….Ino!"

Ino possessing Zaynab walked from the Fog Troupe members to stand next to Sakura.

Hassan stared at his women in disbelief, "Zaynab, what are you-"he stopped when he saw her place her sword at the base of her neck.

"If anyone tries anything; your friend here is going to be swimming in red," Ino warned, holding the sword close to the base of her throat, but not to the point where the blade was touching because she didn't want to accidentally activate whatever that strange mist was.

"W-What the…..?" Cassim ground his teeth. "What did you do to her?"

"Nothing yet, my seemingly unconscious friend here is just controlling this women's body. Killing her host it won't affect her. Her spirit will just return back to her body." Sakura stated calmly.

Everyone stopped, wondering if this strange power that none had heard of. Cassim glared at Sakura and the women just stared back passively.

"Well Cassim-your move."

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

"You know your mom told you to stay in the palace," Alibaba whispered to Badr as he watched Sakura coming through the gates of the Plaza towards the entrance of the palace. Cassim following shortly behind her with his group and Zaynab standing right beside her with Hinata and Ino who was unconscious on her friend's back. Badr quickly explained to Alibaba after figuring out what had just occurred and that Ino had taken over Zaynab's body and they were probably holding her hostage.

When Sakura saw Badr and Alibaba coming down the stairs she walked over to them while Cassim and his group remained behind. Sakura then looked at Ino.

"Alright, you can come on back Ino."

Nodding, she released her hold on Zaynab's body and returned to her own, getting off Hinata's back. The three women started walking over to Alibaba and Badr.

"What are you doing here?" Sakura asked her son.

Badr looked at her, "Mom, you did your part here. Let me do mine. I'm going to support Alibaba if he needs it."

He was expecting his mother to put up a fight but Sakura just sighed and patted his head. "At this point; you and Alibaba might be the only ones with the power to stop them. But don't be reckless. You can't get out of your punishment this way."

Badr grinned widely and nodded, "Right!"

"Hopefully, you won't have to though." She whispered looking up at Alibaba.

Alibaba started making his way down the stairs but as he passed Sakura he asked her, "Please, don't interfere."

Sakura nodded, "It's up to you now, Alibaba."

Alibaba created a ring of fire with Amon's blade to corner the Fog Troupe in case they had any qualms they wanted to settle with Sakura and her friends.

"Yo Alibaba, I heard you wanted to see me." Cassim waved.

"Cassim, why are you doing this?" Alibaba asked, "The monarch is gone, why are you still fighting? Answer me?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Cassim commented back. "Equality? A country without a king? When did I wish for something like that?"

The blade in Cassim's hand started to emit a black fog that went to wrap around Alibaba but he evaded and then the other members of the Fog Troupe with the same type of sword went to attack him but after Alibaba summoned his djinn equip he cut through the blades of those swords.

"Call off your troops Cassim." Alibaba commanded holding his sword at Cassim's neck who was on his knees after his sword was sliced through. However, Cassim would not surrender to Alibaba's commands.

"He's not going to do it," Sakura stated calmly.

"How do you know?" asked Badr.

"Would you be able to kill your sister Badr, if that was the two of your right now?"

Badr couldn't respond, literally thinking on what his mother said while her friends disapproved of putting that notion in her child's mind.

She knew it took a certain type of person to kill the person they cared about and right now Alibaba was still far from being that kind of person.

"I won't back down Alibaba," Cassim stated, standing up, the blade pressing against his neck. "I'd rather die than back down. So do it!"

After several dares, Alibaba raised his sword and swung the blade; Cassim barely bat an eye as the blade vanished and returned to its dagger form when Alibaba passed him. Alibaba fell to the ground, sobbing and with his tears, the flames vanished as well.

"As if I could do it, idiot!" He turned around, "If you withdraw your troops the revolt will stop Cassim! If that happens there might still be a chance for you too!"

Cassim turned around smiling, "You're too naive Alibaba." With that, he started walking away, "See you."

But the Balbadd's military forces had gathered and were holding the Fog Troupe members that had been lead into the palace. Cassim looked around at all of this; as if he was contemplating something great in his mind.

He smiled, 'I guess I have no choice.'

Raising his broken sword high into the air, towards the dark skies and then he slammed it straight into his chest, the sight and sound of the blood hitting the ground was vivid. Everyone watched completely shocked and mortified. Even with the massive wound, Cassim still stood.

"Take a good look people of the slums! Military, nobles, royals and outsiders too! I'll show you proof that anyone can be a container of power!"

"COME TO ME NOW." Holding up his arm with the blade, a spread of light went across the area, the blades started reacting to it, gaining a purple tinge before lifting into the air and the gauntlets from its owner's arms towards Cassim. Raising above him in the air.

"S-Sakura; what's happening?" Hinata asked.

"I don't know," Sakura said, starring with unblinking eyes at the sight. "But this can't be good."

When Cassim swiped his arm across, the blades pointing to him came down to him all at once and then sunk into his flesh. From that, amongst the bloody wounds, something started to fester and grow; the black rukh was starting to increase around Cassim as well.

Cassim's body started to mold and change itself, his limbs growing longer and then talons appearing in his hands, then from a burst of what looked like a clay-like cover it turned black instantly and had a shining look of dark armor all over his body. Bat-like wings appearing on his back, a third eye appearing, eyes glossing completely yellow and changing to a different sharpness of a demon. That was what Cassim looked like now; no longer human, but the form of a demonic monster.

A Black Djinn.

"W-What?" Sakura trembled taking a step back. The last time she had seen something like this was with Ja'far.

Everyone was shocked to their corer, incapable of making any forms of movement as the black demon started rising into the air, his hands extended and from them, formed dark energy balls with purple sparks of lightning appearing.

All of the energy balls were thrown down at once, raining down on the guards that were standing around them. Sakura, Ino, and Hinata quickly jumped in to save whoever they could. From on top of the inner sanctuary of the palace, Morgiana and Esra had leapt down to the courtyard.

Morgiana landed in front of Alibaba after saving one of the guards from the crashing towers that had been hit, "Alibaba get a hold of yourself!"

Esra moved over to them and Badr joined shortly after, "What's happening?" asked Esra. "What is that thing?"

"It's…Cassim." Alibaba trembled.

"Everyone get back!" Sakura ordered, jumping into the air to reach Cassim that had now become a black djinn. She delivered a powerful punch to the top of his head that brought him down, crashing to the ground near Alibaba and the others. The force caused a crater and a lot of residue but as it cleared they could see the creature beginning to move again.

"Hurry Alibaba, use your sword!" Morgiana exclaimed.

"Come on Badr, you too!" Esra added.

Badr summoned Vapula's blade, as the black djinn came towards them both Alibaba and Badr swung at the black djinn, slicing off both of his arms. However before either could go in for another attack, the black djinn let out a terrible shriek that made everyone's ear's ache and they had to cover them.

Sakura looked up at the sky to see black rukh coming towards the dark djinn, wrapping around it. The djinn started to regenerate, its arms returning and then its body begging to grow.

"Oh shit." Sakura breathed.

Morgiana went in to attack for worry the creature might become too strong for them soon; however when it saw her charging towards him. Esra followed shortly after her friend, but then they both felt their feet leave the ground as they were forcefully pulled into the air by the djinn and then pushed back with a greater force that sent them over the palace walls. Crashing somewhere in the city.

"ESRA." Sakura cried out before looking back at the djinn with pure anger.

"We'll get them Sakura!" Ino and Hinata were already jumping over the walls to go and check on the girls.

Badr fueled on rage charged towards the black djinn along with Sakura. Jumping into the air, they aimed for the djinn's chest with their blade and fist, only to be stopped by a barrier of black rukh gathering at the center and then forming orange rings that were acting as a shield.

'What!?'

They were barely able to get a second thought in before they were sent crashing into the ground, their mouths' filling with blood and their noses with the dirt of the rubble created. The djinn flew higher into the air, gathering large ball of energy in its hand, aiming for Ahbmad and Sahbmad who were watching from the palace balcony.

Sinbad, seeing the events taking place from below jumped onto the djinn's back after climbing up onto one of the higher towers. When he was on its back, Sinbad plunged his arm into the djinn's neck. Using magoi manipulation, to subdue it. The djinn started to settle, lowering itself but wailing as if in agony and struggling against Sinbad's hold. Yet the king still held on, even when the creature plunged its claws into his back.

"Alibaba! I'll hold him down, finish him off quickly." Sinbad instructed. "This thing wants to kill off everyone involved in the monarchy! It wants revolution! We can't let it have that!"

With tears in his eyes, Alibaba resolved himself to bring the flames onto Amon's sword and charge forward but just as with Sakura and Badr's attack, it did not reach the djinn. The barrier shielding it; no matter how much Alibaba pressed, bringing out more magoi that his forearms became wrapped in armor but even then it was not enough and he was repelled back.

The Djinn then let out a terrifying screech before throwing Sinbad off of its back. However before he hit the wall in what would have been a painful and scarring impact, Esra appeared to catch him, following closely behind was Ino, Hinata, and Morgiana. After finding the girls lodged in the side of a building, they were given a brief healing before they had rushed back to the palace.

"You alright?" Esra asked, as she placed her hands over Sinbad's wounds and started to close them.

"Yeah…."

Sakura and Badr gathered themselves, watching the ordeal before coming to join everyone else. Looking back at the black djinn it, was obvious that it was having trouble healing itself.

"What did you do?" asked Sakura.

"I temporarily stopped his flow of magoi," Sinbad explained. "We need to take him down now!"

"Alibaba, let's attack him at the same time," Badr suggested.

"Right."

But as Alibaba tried to bring up enough power, he found that his power refused to cooperate for whatever reason. Every time be brought out the armor around his hands that showed an increase in magoi it would vanish.

"Dammit!"

Dozens of footsteps could be heard all around; when Alibaba looked again the military forces had gathered and were facing off against the djinn attempting to hold it back. The battle continued from then on.

"Ino, use your mind-transfer!" Sakura exclaimed and Ino was already crouched down, forming the hand sign aiming at the occupied djinn, she performed her jutsu and her body collapsed. Quickly caught by Sakura.

"What happened to her?" asked Sinbad.

"She's going to try and take-over its mind," Hinata said.

Ino was in complete darkness when she opened her eyes, this wasn't unusual when being in the mind but there was something different about being in this one where she could actually feel the cold all around her form. As Ino continued to search through the darkness, she felt another cold rush pass through her and a rough voice.

'Get out…Get out…..Get out…." The voice started to grow louder, another booming noise shook her. "GET OUT, GET OUT."

Ino shot up, gasping in Sakura's arms and beginning to break into a cold sweat. "There-There's something wrong. I couldn't take control. I couldn't find his mind."

"This is just like that time in Valefor's dungeon," Sakura said more to Sinbad than anyone else because he was currently the only one who knew that it was true and could compare the scenario.

"If only we had our metal vessels…"

"Alibaba, are you ready?" Badr asked, bringing out Vapula's katana, transforming it again into the large sword, and then turning to see Alibaba also summoning Amon's flames to wrap around his sword.

Alibaba and Badr jumped into the air, coming down towards the black djinn with their swords about to strike its head when a figure literally flew in between them and the boys were wrapped in a blanket of light that threw them onto the ground heavily.

"Badr, Alibaba!"

Sakura went to the boys to heal them; Morgiana and Esra went as well. While doing so, Sakura went to starring at the black rukh swirling around Judar as he stood in the air with an ominous expression. She-as well as everyone else realized that Judar was not the only one there but Ithnan as well who stood on one of the palace domes, now noticed when Judar addressed him.

"Oh great now what?" Ino panted. The situation was dire enough but everyone knew that another obstacle was about to be placed in their way.

Sakura hissed, "What the hell is Judar doing here? And who is that other guy?"

Badr gasped, "We know him, he was with the Fog Troupe Cassim was leading."

Judar landed on the djinn's head, looking down he spotted Sakura amongst the crowd and gave a light wave. "Yo Sakura; I see you found that idiot king by yourself huh?"

"Dammit, Judar; what the hell are you doing?" Sakura pushed Badr behind her.

"Hey, I could ask you the same thing," Judar commented, putting his hands on his hips. "You and Sinbad really are idiots for hanging around with a bunch of kids like this."

Esra glared at Judar, meeting his eyes. "Well if it isn't the little magician-I've got a score to settle with you and the rest of these twerps."

Sakura stood up, shielding Esra and Badr from Judar's view. "Watch it Judar; I won't allow anyone to threaten my children."

Judar's quieted and his eyes became wide, "What they're yours? Seriously? Hey Sinbad, looks like you were a little late to the party huh?"

"I wouldn't say that," Sinbad commented offhandedly, glancing at Sakura and it finally settled on Judar what Sinbad was implying.

He threw his head back and started laughing hysterically. "No freaking way! They're both of yours!? No wonder their rukh was so weird! They're hajin!"

Hajin.

Sakura remembered hearing that phrase a few times but she never knew what it meant. It seemed that Judar was pretty understanding of it though; then again he also knew that she was an interloper when they first met.

"Judar," Ithnan called. "We need to proceed."

"Yeah, yeah, I hear you." Judar gave a few more snickers, "Dammit; now I'm definitely excited for this. Hurry up and tell me how to use this thing."

"That djinn is full of dark power like you. If you use your power to control him; he will become your servant."

Hopping right on top of the djinn's head without fear, Judar raised his hands into the air and then slammed them down on the djinn, producing purple lightning; it took only one try before Judar left the djinn's head and raised his wand. With it, the djinn raised its head. Now completely submitted to Judar. It was obvious to everyone who was watching and things were about to get a lot more dangerous if not a lot harder to win this battle.

Sinbad had realized this too and stood up to make a move when Judar summoned up some ice and flung the shards straight into Sinbad's body. It went into his legs, arms, and shoulders, pinning him to the wall that froze behind him.

"Stay put Sinbad, don't worry I won't kill you. But I can't have you interfering."

"Dammit, Sinbad." Sakura ran towards Sinbad but leapt back when Judar threw several shards of ice her way with sharp tips.

"Can't have you doing that now Sakura." Judar then pointed his wand at Sakura, "You're trouble even without you djinn's. But I'm afraid I can't play with you too long. There's apparently something special planned for you."

Instead of elaborating, Judar tapped the djinn's head with his wand and it began to grow larger. A new set of wings forming and springing out of its back; its talons growing with the rest of its body to take on a far more vicious form. After screeching out, black orbs began forming around the djinn, larger than the ones before as it came down; everyone had to move to avoid the attack. Sakura, Ino, Hinata, Badr, Esra, Morgiana and Alibaba were jumping, rolling and leaping out of the way.

'Where is everyone?' Sakura looked around frantically after rolling out of the way of the attack.

Through the dust of the combustion, Sakura searched for her friends and children when she felt a presence right behind her, sending a chill up her spine. She couldn't process anything else though because she felt her entire body spasm with pain shooting through every fiber in her body when Judar hit her with his lightning full force and didn't stop until she saw her vision blackening and the pain started to become nothing but numbness which was not a good sign.

Sakura fell unconscious on the ground at Judar's feet, "Well, that was easy." He then lifted his wand up and with it, Sakura rose into the air, unconscious and back in everyone's line of vision.

Sinbad started to struggle against his restraints of ice, attempting to pull himself forward but the ice had been frozen solid, to the wall. "LET HER GO"

"MOM" Esra screamed.

"SAKURA" Ino and Hinata cried out together.

"What the hell are you doing with her!?" Badr exclaimed.

Ignoring them, Judar flicked his wrist and his djinn resumed attacking them as it had before which occupied them with dodging. The attacks becoming more vicious than before.

"Hey. What you planning on using the interloper for?" Judar asked Ithnan; now standing on a white carpet in the air. Judar settled Sakura there, dropping his gravitation magic but the pinkette remained impassively still from the shock that rendered her unconscious.

"The organization has plans for her," Ithnan stated. "Well, I'll leave the rest to you here."

Ithnan then started flying away with the pinkette; Sakura's friends and her children were barely able to see it while continuing to avoid the djinn's attacks. Every time someone attempted to go after Sakura, the djinn would attack them and keep them from leaving the palace grounds.

"Shit, now what do we do?" Ino asked, panting softly. "We have to get her back!"

Badr sensed something off, looking through the dust that was beginning to grow lighter he saw Esra livid. Her body trembling, fists clenched tightly at her side, her teeth grinding so hard her jaw was aching. Her hands began illuminating a bright light, tears in the corner of her eyes that were glaring daggers at Judar.

"Esra don't-

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

With her arms and feet spread out, a bright light emerged from Esra's body coming out. Everyone looked at her shocked.

"What's happening to her?" asked Sinbad, trying to unpin himself from the wall. "Her magoi's pouring out of her!"

Badr backed away, "When Esra gets really, really mad and loses control…..something like this always happens but-but I've never seen it like this before!"

There was a ball of energy created from the magoi, it shot straight towards Judar and the black djinn. When it hit, Judar held up his borg, protecting himself from the attack with ease but when it hit, his Borge did vanish.

"What a waste." He scoffed, "You know magoi attacks don't do much damage. You've got a lot to learn little magician."

Esra fell to her knees after releasing that much magoi a wave of fatigue washed over her, she glared up at Judar, the tears falling out in the corner of her eyes. But her attack had served as a distraction for Alibaba to have Morgiana throw him into the air up at Judar; after gathering all the power he could he went in for the attack. Unfortunately, Judar caught sight of him and blasted him back.

Badr whipped out his sword, throwing his blade forward to create a beam of light to reach Judar but his djinn grabbed a hold of that light and deflected it back easily before it threw its arm out at Badr, who was sent crashing into the wall. Hinata also went to attack the djinn, but it swiped her way easily, her twin lion heads having no effect on the monster. She too was thrown back and crashed into Ino, the two rolled across the courtyard, feeling their skin scrape in different places from each turn they made.

"T-That thing's getting stronger isn't it?" Ino groaned,

"I think so….What are we going to do? We can't win like this!"

Judar waved his wand, creating several shards of ice, his eyes fixated on the two kunoichi on the ground. "Enough of you two." He then flung his arm forward, aiming the ice to pin the women down where they lay, the ice pierced through their skin and spread across the ground, freezing inside of them.

"Crap!" Ino ground her teeth, shivering as she felt like her blood was freezing and she was rendered immobile.

"I-I can't move…." Hinata trembled.

Judar smirked, looking back to Alibaba, Morgiana Esra, and Badr. "Alright, let's see how you handle this!"

A giant spear of ice began forming in the air on account of Judar's magic when the dark djinn grabbed a hold of it and it started to become engulfed by a purple flame.

"This sword is loaded with magoi from both me and my Djinn. Do you think you'll be able to withstand it?" Judar questioned as his djinn flew down toward Alibaba. The sword clashed with Alibaba's and was successfully blocked, however, the difference in power was about to become evident. Alibaba tried calling on more of his djinn's power in order to completely push away the djinn, but instead of flames his sword shattered into pieces and left only a short piece attached to the hilt.

"ALIBABA" Badr attempted to stand up only to sink to his knees, still, far from recovered yet, he forced himself to stand up. Esra doing the same as they went to attack the djinn together. But Judar easily knocked them back again with his magic, a single blast was all it took.

"Hey, you hajin. Don't go doing anything stupid. I actually want to keep you alive now." Judar said, in a mocking tone of voice as he watched the two attempt to pick themselves up from the crater they were in.

"Morgiana throw me up there again!"

"What are you saying? Your sword is broken!" Morgiana exclaimed, attempting to talk sense into Alibaba. He couldn't possibly think he could defeat that creature with a broken sword.

However, Morgiana did not realize that even with his sword shattered, Alibaba's determination and spirit remained intact. "It's still here! I'm still here! I have to try again!" Alibaba turned away from the djinn and Judar to give Morgiana a stern look, "Again!"

"Okay!"

Morgiana ended up throwing him into the air a multiple of times, every time he would say 'one more time' but it wouldn't end. That encouraged Esra and Badr to do the same to defeat Judar, they paired up, Esra and Morgiana threw Badr and Alibaba into the air and they attempted to use their djinn's weapons to defeat Judar and the black djinn but with the same end results. The inexperience of their powers left them vulnerable and time was proving to be their enemy as well.

"You just don't give up do you?" Judar asked in amusement.

"WE NOT STOPPING UNTIL YOU GIVE OUR MOM BACK," Badr shouted, going to attack again, even with the same painful result.

Badr and Esra had their minds set on one thing though, defeating Judar was the gateway to leaving and search for Sakura, since being taken away, she was weighing on their minds as they fought. Their hearts heavy with more than what a child should bear.

'Don't' worry mom,' Esra through Badr into the air again.

'Don't worry, we're coming' Badr thought as he travelled through the air towards Judar and the black djinn, only to be knocked back once again, hitting the ground hard. Having it done so many times, he could hardly feel his wounds anymore and it became more of a growing irritation.

Judar laughed as he threw his arm forward, signaling his djinn like a puppet to attack Alibaba, the giant shard of ice covered in the djinn's dark flames heading towards him.

However, it didn't reach its target.

Just as the black djinn threw its attack at Alibaba, a ray of light emerged from the dark sky's hitting the ground right in front of Alibaba blocking the attack. Everyone stared in amazement at the sight of Aladdin emerging from the light; the rukh fluttering around him in such a vast amount that it was visible to everyone. With a smile on his face, he held out his hand to Alibaba, with his staff in the other.

"Hello, Alibaba."

Esra gasped, relieved to see the young boy awake and well. "Aladdin!"

While everyone else was also shocked at Aladdin's appearance and his recover, Judar appeared very satisfied seeing the young boy. Excited to fight him again with the determination to pin his djinn against Ugo. However, little did he know that was no longer a possibility.

"There you are kiddo, I won't lose again." Judar grinned widely, his djinn mimicking his movements from behind. "Cause now I've got a djinn too!"

Judar attacked Aladdin demanding him to call out his djinn but Aladdin just looked down at the flute around his neck with sad eyes. "You want to see Ugo huh….? Well, Ugo is…no longer here."

This did not amuse Judar, "If you can't bring out your djinn; then you're just a dumb kid that's going to die."

When Judar's djinn threw another one of its ice swords toward Aladdin, the boy threw his arms out and a rupture of light emerged with the rukh. It then took the form of a white giant, that resembled Ugo but it was in the form of heat magic.

"But Ugo has left me power!"

Ino and Hinata were gaping in shock, wondering what exactly that was and how Aladdin was doing this. This world had been throwing too many surprises for them to keep track and yet they were certain there was more to come.

Esra couldn't bring herself to blink, astounded by the sight. "When did Aladdin….?"

"Halharl Infigar!"

Holding up his staff, a large ball of energy was created, the white giant raised its arms and replicated the attack and it was fired straight at the black djinn that was charging down for another attack. The heat magic was so intense it melted the shards embedded in Sinbad, Ino, and Hinata, freeing them.

"What's with these kids?" Ino coughed, watching stunned with Hinata.

"They're amazing." Hinata breathed.

Aladdin looked to Sinbad, asking if he was alright to which he confirmed, he then turned to Morgiana. "Morg could you take Mister Sinbad back to the city? There are some people in there that he needs to see. If he does, he'll be able to help Miss Sakura too."

Ino, Hinata, Esra, and Badr were immediately on their feet and near Aladdin after hearing Sakura's name. They didn't know how Aladdin understood all of the turn of events that took place while he was supposedly unconscious but their worry for the pinkette overruled their curiosity and erased any suspicion.

"We're going too," Hinata stated, standing with Ino.

"Alright, let's go," Sinbad said about to move when Esra called.

"You better bring our mom back to us Sinbad!"

Sinbad smirked back at her, "Dont' worry; I'm used to chasing after her."

While Hinata, Sinbad, Ino, and Morgiana took off to go into the city; Alibaba, Badr, Esra, and Aladdin stayed to finish their battle with Judar and the black djinn.

Judar had also recovered from that attack and he was even more infuriated than before; let down by the prospect that Aladdin had more to show. But the boy's magic was still incomplete and he had admitted this, however, Aladdin was not entirely without hope. He looked to Alibaba and Badr.

"The two of you can defeat him and the black djinn."

Alibaba and Badr were quick to protest Aladdin's belief only because he was looking at them so strongly with confidence that they had long lost during the battle. Alibaba's sword was shattered and Badr was barely able to control and lift his not to mention the fact that they had both depleted their magoi.

Aladdin shook his head, coming over to the two. He then pointed his staff to the sky, a white light wrapped around the four children and they were taken to see the city of Balbadd. There were riots occurring all over. People attacking one another with the intent of the destruction of the nation to burn it down and rebuild a new through revolution. But then they saw a few people; those who were stopping the ones raving. Most of which had come back from the palace after Sakura had spoken with them. Crying out, exclaiming that this violence was nonsensical and pointless. Reminding them that they were going to start a new but not like this.

"This country still holds the fire of hope. A righteous fire that will allow the people to get on with their lives and overcome their fates. You're the one that sparked that aren't you Alibaba?"

Tears gathered in the corner of Alibaba's eyes. Aladdin told them that the rukh was gathered by that desire to live and that was why they would be able to keep fighting.

Once their conscience returned to the point of the battle, Aladdin had gathered a large sum of rukh; it began circling around his forehead and then emitting outwards and eight-pointed star appearing on his forehead. Then it gathered before vanishing.

"What is that?" Esra asked, clutching her brother's arm.

Aladdin looked down at Alibaba, "I asked everyone to come. So they can guide you and your friend."

He then pointed to the djinn that had recovered from Aladdin's last attack, "He is completely covered in darkness. The only way to free him is to break through the darkness with your sword."  
Alibaba looked at his sword in disappointment as it was pretty much just a hilt now.

"Don't worry, it can be re-forged." Aladdin then addressed Badr and Esra. "We all have to put our powers together okay? Esra, you need to draw on your power and Badr you need to use your metal vessel to help Alibaba cut through alright?"

They nodded, Aladdin held out his hand toward Esra and she took it; he placed it over the staff. "Concentrate now, and draw on your magic."

"But I don't-

"It's alright, you've already got a lot more control than you think. Trust me Esra."

Esra held her breath and closed her eyes, feeling a warmth flow through her body like when she formed a borg. She felt a warmth from Aladdin as well, a giant ball of light started forming above their heads. While this was happening, something in Esra's mind began shifting, a thought, a vision, a memory or a dream, Esra didn't know but she saw Aladdin entering through a gate made of stone with an eight-pointed star. There was then nothing but a sky full of stars and a large ball of light that seemed to be getting closer.

Esra opened her eyes, her voice seemed void. "Solomon's…Wisdom?"

Aladdin smiled, turning to Badr and Alibaba. "Alright, Alibaba, Badr-it's your turn now."

With that Aladdin flung the staff into the ground and flames erupted around them. Amon's sword reacted instantly.

"The only magic I can use now is heat magic, but your sword works fine with that," Aladdin explained.

Everyone watched as Amon's sword was returned to its former state, appearing from the flames. Judar chose to start attacking again. Badr and Esra went forward to block the shards of ice coming towards Alibaba, while he made his way over to the black djinn that had enveloped Cassim.

Alibaba leapt into the air and stabbed the djinn, flames erupted and then vanished, coils seeped from the djinn, wrapping around Alibaba and pulling him inside.

"What happened to him?" Esra asked in alarm.

"Alibaba" Badr called in hopes of some reaction.

"Don't worry." Aladdin said, "I believe in him. He can do this."

Then Aladdin looked at Judar, "I have something I want to show you too."

The star on Aladdin's forehead started glowing and then, Judar began to see flashes in his mind, but it was so vivid that the images felt real and nearly blinded him completely to his present. He heard peoples cries as they were engulfed in flames, killed mercilessly by men with their faces covered in white cloths, he saw two individuals, a man a women crying down at something, then he saw them lying dead near a basket with a dark-haired baby in it. Then a hand reaching out, seemingly towards him.

"W-What is this?" Judar threw his head back, clutching his hair in agony. "STOP IT!"

Judar, no longer having concentration over his magic fell onto the ground.

"What's happening to him?" asked Esra.

"I showed him the truth." Aladdin stated before smiling back at Badr and Esra, "Hey, we've still got something to do. Here."

Holding out his hands, Esra and Badr reached forward, they held. Esra had to hold onto the staff again and her brother's hand. Once the three children had connected the small circle they made, a large flash of light appeared and the pillar shot into the air, disrupting the black rukh that had gathered from the tens of thousands of people all over Balbadd that were cursing their fate.

"What's going on?" Badr asked looking up in awe.

"I don't know all the details." Aladdin said, "But while I was asleep, I took a little journey and met with Ugo one last time. He showed me a lot of things; also about the two of you. You're special in this world; you can do amazing things and not just because you're Sinbad's children."

Badr and Esra were too amazed at the sight of the rukh to question how Aladdin even knew they were Sinbad's children when he was asleep the whole time.

The djinn started shrinking and light began peaking from its black armor like body and then bursting into the same light that Aladdin, Esra, and Badr had made.

Something black then appeared, like a shadow or a silhouette in front of Judar and engulfed him in black. Aladdin, Esra, and Badr didn't make a move to go after whoever or whatever that was.

"Who is that?" asked Badr, glaring at the new-comer.

"I don't know," Aladdin admitted, even he couldn't see through that cloak of darkness.

"It seems that Ithnan has failed." A woman's voice cooed. "Oh well….till next time…."

With that Judar and the figure vanished in a flash of blackness but Badr, Esra, and Aladdin did not have a lot of time to consider who it was because there was another matter that had to be dealt with concerning Alibaba.

When the light vanished; the skies began to clear again and Alibaba appeared clutching a body that looked like Cassim's but it was dry, and looked like it was about to crumble into dust. From the sky, there was raining light but sadness filled the children's hearts and tears filled their eyes when Alibaba started crying.

"Welcome back, Alibaba," Aladdin said with a smile but tears streaming down his face.

* * *

Ithnan watched from am aerial view high above the country Balbadd. Where he saw the light of the rukh coming together from all corners to form a canopy over a certain part of the country. It was clear that the plans to drown Balbadd in darkness were not going to come to life at this point. But the effort was not a total loss.

"A fourth magi that possess the Wisdom of Solomon and two hajin. This will be interesting." Ithnan turned to look at Sakura who was lying unconscious on the flying tarp. "At least we acquired a part of the set we needed."

Ithnan then clenched his hands, one over his staff the other into a fist. "I will dye you all in darkness. The interlopers, Hajin, king's candidates alike."

"I'm afraid you won't'."

Ithnan looked around for the low voice he just heard, only when he turned to the side to be hit from his place on the tarp by Masrur, a wave of lightning shooting from him but he managed to create a dark borge to protect himself. This was Masrur household vessel, Bararaq Kauza.

When Sakura had fallen from the tarp and Masrur grabbed her before she could hit the ground. He then watched the skies.

Ithnan was moving towards a small piece of land on Balbadd's seas where Ja'far was waiting to use his household vessel, Bararaq Sei. The blades he released attached to coils formed the heads of snakes and latched onto the borge destroying it like glass. This left Ithnan disoriented and he ended up falling towards the sea.

"It can't be!" Ithnan gasped, realizing what was happening. Then a bright light caught his attention from the corner of his eyes. From the skies above, that were thick with storm clouds, not that of rain. A large bolt of lightning came down in a coordinated manner towards something. Or rather someone. Standing there, he could make out a silhouette but he knew who it belonged it.

"Why…?" Ithnan seethed. "Why does a man like you even exist!? HIGH KING OF THE SEVEN SEAS SINBAD."

Sinbad stood in Baal's djinn equip, his hair had turned blue and his body covered in scale like armor, he had tail resembling a reptiles, more specifically a dragons and he had a vicious look in his eyes that would subdue one. And it was clear, he was furious.

" **Bararaq Saiqa!"**

A large blast of lightning shot from the sword that Sinbad held in his hand. The blast was so large that the entire country would be able to see it from any distance. It cleared away the remains of the darkened skies at it fired at Ithnan; the man screamed as his body vanished into nothingness.

The sky's cleared and Sinbad's djinn equip disappeared afterward his attack and the man stumbled forward with Ja'far keeping him from hitting the ground. With using his magoi manipulation on the dark djinn, then pouring so much into that attack he couldn't help but drown in the wave of fatigue that washed over him. However, his mind was sharp and still on high-alert.

"You alright Sin?"

He nodded looking at Masrur who was holding Sakura, "How is she?"

Masrur crouched down, along with Sinbad and Ja'far to check on Sakura. Her body had been burned from the lightning attack and her breathing-she didn't seem to be breathing.

"It can't be!"

After going into the city as Aladdin had instructed them to do, Ino, Hinata, Sinbad, and Morgiana met up with Masrur and Ja'far who had been heading to the palace but were working their way through the riots and trying to tame them. Then they came across the three individuals who had stolen Sinbad's metal vessels on the way to Balbadd, as it turned out they were looking for Sinbad because they realized that the items they had stolen were metal vessel items. They had been members of the Fog Troupe for a short amount of time and when Sinbad joined, they became aware of his identity. After that it was only a matter of finding out where Sakura had been taken; which was made easy with Hinata's Byakugan and Morgiana and Masrur's sense of smell.

"He's powerful," Hinata said softly.

"Terrifyingly…."

Morgiana, Ino, and Hinata stared in absolute unfathomable disbelief, their jaws still hanging low after seeing Sinbad's attack. Their fingers tingling and they felt as if they weren't able to move after the shockwave that went through them during Sinbad's attack. But their state of shock didn't remain long when they saw Ja'far waving them over. The three females ran to see Sakura still unconscious now in Sinbad's arms.

"She isn't waking up and it doesn't look like she's breathing."

Hinata activated her Byakugan once she reached the pinkette, looking through Sakura to check her internal organs. "Her hearts still beating but it's really faint and slow; this is bad."

"Set her down," Ino ordered, stepping in. She placed her hands on top of Sakura's chest, chakra appearing around and then she started pushing down on her in intervals of three. "Come on Sakura."

 _White._

 _That was all Sakura could make out in nothingness and she could hardly breathe. There had been times when she would awaken in total darkness, where she could see nothing but black and then she would be taken to a horrified version of her past, her regrets, and decisions relived all over. But this time it was different. And she knew that she wouldn't be enduring anything of this sort and would remain surrounded by this nothingness of white. Although that did not change the prospect that something else might occur and it was honestly a welcome since she did not want to have to stare at nothing._

' _This….?' Sakura thought, looking around._

 _She heard a voice, a soft toned voice._

" _Go back…."_

 _Somehow, Sakura knew the voice, yet there was no face for her to place it in this space that it was echoing off of. There was a strong feeling of another presence and yet she couldn't see any in this emptiness._

" _Must return…."_

" _Who are you?" Sakura's head turned as far as she could, but there was still nothing, not even her own shadow could be caught._

 _There was no response for several seconds and what felt like too long for Sakura who could feel herself slipping, she didn't know if it was to unconsciousness or conscious but she could feel herself starting to move, yet she wanted to keep herself rooted here._

" _Where are you hiding?" Sakura asked._

" _Don't….don't fall…..don't fall…."_

 _Sakura frowned, her fingers shifted under her, yet she felt like she was touching nothing. "What does that mean?"_

" _Just….a little longer…a little more…then…..appear again…more time."_

" _What are you saying?"_

 _Then Sakura felt herself slipping, the surface beneath her no longer held her up and she felt like she was falling from a great height. Darkness clouded her vision and she heard the voice say once again._

" _Just a little longer."_

There was a heavyweight that fell on Sakura's chest, she thought the sudden force would crush her lungs but then she felt the air rush into her that she gratefully took a huge breath after and then almost choked when she coughed up blood. She could hear voices calling her name, but her vision was blurred when she opened her eyes to the blinding sunlight and faces hovering over her. Ino, Hinata, Ja'far, Masrur, Morgiana, and Sinbad.

Sakura blinked several times, feeling herself being lifted and something wrapped around her shoulders, it took her a moment to realize it was Sinbad who had his arms wrapped around her.

Ino and Hinata were staring at their friend with tears of relief in the corner of their eyes. "Sakura…."

"Thank goodness," Ino swiped her hands over her face and through her hair, "You scared us, forehead."

"Oh, this wasn't a dream…" Sakura deadpanned, meeting Sinbad's smiling face. She grasped his wrist and felt his fingers tighten comfortably around her shoulder.

"You're still a handful huh?"

"Like you're one to talk." Ja'far, Masrur, and Sakura spoke simultaneously. Sakura met Ja'far's eyes and caught a smile on his face, which she returned.

Ino tapped Sakura's shoulder, "Alright can we get the hell out of here before something else happens?"

No one was objecting to that suggestion; because while there was still a lot that still needed to be dealt with and many explanations needed, all they wanted right now was to have a short period of peace.

* * *

Alibaba looked down at his friend's lifeless body in his arms; he had seen Cassim in his last moments but failed to grasp him before he vanished right before his eyes inside that dark djinn that had consumed him. There was no way to reverse what had been done after he had sunken into the darkness to such a degree but still Alibaba blamed himself for not being strong enough to pull him out.

"I'm sorry Cassim." Alibaba cried, "I couldn't save you. I couldn't do anything."

Esra was crying on Badr's shoulder, while Aladdin, whose tears had stopped a while ago walked up to Alibaba, resting his hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Alibaba, you can't keep crying or he won't be able to go back." Aladdin looked up, Alibaba, Esra, and Badr followed his line of sight and saw a stream of rukh moving through the skies, their wings fluttering together was as vivid as they were.

"Those who die don't disappear." Aladdin smiled, "They return to the great flow of rukh."

"Wow….." Esra and Badr breathed out together.

An eight-pointed star appeared on Aladdin's forehead as he closed his eyes to concentrate his magic, "Solomon's Wisdom."

It became clear that Aladdin had done something amazing when the rukh running through the flow, appeared in a flash of light and then took the forms of two individuals, a man, and a woman. Alibaba looked upon them with shock and recognition.

"Mom! Da-The late king of Balbadd!"

"No way!" Badr and Esra gasped, blinking rapidly.

"Their….or more accurately their rukh are now part of a greater whole, which wraps around and flows through the entire world." Aladdin explained, "That's why, even though it's sad when people die, it's not an eternal goodbye. They are always watching your choices and your journey."

Aladdin then raised his staff into the air, summoning the rest of the rukh to come down from the great flow to be with their loved ones one final time, until they would meet again. There was a rain of light that then appeared as people who rushed to the ones they were eager to see. Although slightly transparent, they were vivid in the eyes of those who loved them and the former vice, hatred, and anger that was seething through Balbadd was soon washed away with the tears of happiness from the people.

"This is amazing…." Esra said looking around. "Aladdin you did this?"

"What exactly happened while you were asleep?" Badr asked.

Aladdin just shrugged his shoulders, he wasn't entirely sure himself of exactly what had occurred while he was asleep and met Ugo; he had awakened this new power but he had lost his first friend. Despite this thought, when he looked around at Alibaba, Esra, and Badr, he didn't feel as sad. Because he wasn't alone anymore.

A little girl appeared beside Alibaba, whom he recognized as Mariam. She flew towards him and whispered something and while no one knew what was said, they knew it had to do with Cassim who was standing behind Alibaba, smiling at him.

Alibaba returned it with a smile brighter than he had ever smiled in a long time.

"Cassim!" Badr ran over to Alibaba, grasping Esra's hand to pull her along with him.

When Cassim looked at the young boy, his eyes softened and he kneeled down in front of him to whisper something in his ear, Alibaba, Aladdin, and Esra watched by they could not hear what he said. Badr seemed surprised, but realization flashed in his eyes and he grinned widely and nodded.

"Sure!"

Then all of the individual's rukh began to return, their bodies floating back to the sky where they came, their friends and family held out their hands towards the sky where they would not be able to reach as they watched them go with smiles on their faces. Cassim and Mariam followed, hand in hand they returned to the flow.

"What did he say to you?" Esra asked.

The corner of Badr's eyes was filled with tears, "He said, give your mom a hug for me!"

Esra gasped out with a smile, "You-You mean she's-

"BADR, ESRA"

"ALADDIN, ALIBABA"

At the entrance of the palace gates, the four saw Sinbad being supported by Ja'far and Masrur, Morgiana and Ino and Hinata who had Sakura's arms draped over their shoulders to help her walk. The sight of each other after a battle had a great wave of relief washing over them and caused everyone to drown in joy.

"MOM" Badr and Esra ran towards Sakura who practically limped towards them as quickly as she could and met the two halfway; Ino and Hinata followed after and the three were nearly tackled down by the two children. Morgiana ran towards Alibaba and Aladdin, taking them down with a wide embrace.

Sinbad, Ja'far, and Masrur watched from the distance at the reunion. Although it was clear to the two generals that there was only one individual that their king was focused on at that moment. The pinkette who was crying with a wide-mouthed smile as she embraced her children in a manner that showed she was afraid to let them go again.

"There's some peace for now," said Ja'far.

"I wonder for how long though…." Sinbad said absentmindedly with a smile.

There was clearly going to be a lot more factors in their situation, which without a doubt would create a line of different goals in the climax and whether it be for better or worse; they were all going to have to face it together.

 **That concludes the Balbadd arc. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and look forward to the rest of this story. I'm getting ready to post Through The Looking Glass on Watpad and I'll probably reveal that in my next post.**

 **DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW!**


	18. The Past: Fighting Pain part1

"'I really missed this," Sakura grinned, spreading her arms out, her dark greyish-red hair whipping behind her as she continued to fly through the sky in Beleth's djinn equip. A cold heavy wind blew across the sky where Sakura was flying, overlooking a forest and mountain region, set as far as possible from the village. Alongside a row of mountains in the most secluded area, she could find, there was a pile of rubble of what was left of the top of those giant structures. The environment and atmosphere was the best place could find to train in her djinn equip without attracting any attention, with the village already on the lookout for the girl in the cat-mask, Sakura thought it was better to keep her identity hidden a little longer.

"Aswad Kura,"

Holding out her hand, Sakura gathered the flames around her talons and compressed it into a ball, she then flung it towards the already ruined mountain and watched as the sphere continued to shrink as it drew nearer to the earth. Then there was a huge explosion that rattled the earth and caused the mountain to crumble further.

Sakura whistled, putting her hands on her hips as she waited for the smoke to clear completely giving her a clear image of the destruction she had inflicted. Making a mental note to remember the kind of damage compressed flames can do.

For weeks she had been training with her different djinn, in order to master their abilities to another level. She had been tweaking and finding new methods of using her abilities; she had also been working on mastering her fifth and final djinn, Orias-whom she found was not called the djinn of transmutation for nothing. She was having a particularly hard time mastering this metal vessel.

After landing in the mountain region, that was free of any vegetation and also clear of any other forms of life, Sakura removed Beleth's djinn equip. She stretched out her arms, legs and craned her neck several times before holding out her hand, pointing to nothing.

"Alright Orias, you're up." Concentrating her magoi, Sakura chanted, "Djinn of transmutation and stability, I call upon you!"

Sakura's emerald green eyes became tinged with purple, her entire right arm started to become wrapped with black markings that were sliding down her limb from where she had placed the bracelet that held Orias.

Once the markings were fully apparent on her arm, she held it up allowing the mark to extend to her fingertips before it began to grow past her flesh and towards the sky, slowly it was taking the form of a transparent black, somewhat disoriented ax-shaped blade. She then jumped into the air, high enough to a large portion of the mountain, then she threw her arm forward and portions of the black mark seemed to detach from her in six different directions, starting at the end of the mountain and moving forward to the center, creating a bottomless hole in that place.

"Definitely looking forward to this djinn equip," Sakura said as she landed once again, removing her partial djinn equip. Learning to use Orias's power was actually harder for her than using any of her other djinns; while she had learned to use her metal vessels like an extension of her body, this one was like growing a whole new limb without the mind having any idea how to operate it properly.

Sakura sighed, sitting down on the hard ground and looking up at the sky, the breeze cooling down the sweat on her body.

Since the birth of her children, Sakura had been occupied with only two things, looking after her newborns and training with her metal vessels. While the promotion to mother had taken up basically all the time she had left in her life as a teenager, it was yet to interfere with her life was a ninja. She was able to slip away for a few hours in the day to go off and train on her own before returning; it was helpful that her parents were more than eager to spend as much time as they could with their grandchildren-so long as they weren't on night duty. This, however, left Sakura with very little time to recover, but nonetheless, she refused to sit still.

One of the advantages she found in being able to use magoi was that it was one of the greatest assistance for weight loss. She also went on a strict postpartum diet since she was still feeding Badr and Esra and had already reverted back to her previous weight but her hips and thighs were still visibly wider as were her breasts (mostly on account of the feeding). But she had been extremely active since she gave birth and her initial petite (if not slightly underdeveloped) frame was an advantage in this case.

'I wonder how the mission's going….' That was dwelling well on Sakura's mind when she had a moment to spare (which wasn't much). There was no definite time period for this particular mission, but Sakura felt the weeks the group had been gone was still a bit too much. 'I'm sure they'll be back soon."

* * *

"Okay, okay, here you go baby." Sakura cooed, putting down her daughter into her side of the crib. As she moved back, Sakura rubbed her lower back from the dull ache, letting out a heavy breath.

Since Sakura returned from the hospital with the twins it was the same thing; they would cry at a constant when they weren't sleeping and they had to be fed every two hours. On top of everything else, there had been concerns for their health.

As the twins were premature weeks before their due date, Sakura was kept in the hospital with the twins for a week to quarantine them from the outside. Their bodies were still fragile they were still developing their organs. Although with twins it wasn't unusual to give birth early. The mother's body couldn't handle all of the extra strain that the two infants would put on her and end up giving birth. Sakura had been worried because she believed it was changing into her djinn equip, in her current state that might have triggered the early birth. She was glad that Jiraiya had found her.

'I guess fate can be kind too.'

Jiraiya had actually also left the village as well to go on a mission, which she was assuming had something to do with the Akatsuki.

With her two new roommates, Sakura's room was cleared out to fit in the crib. She managed to find a specially designed baby crib for twins that was twice in size but had a partition in the middle to keep them from rolling onto each other. When Sakura went shopping, she actually tried to get as many of her required baby items specifically for twins. Although Ino and her mother went a little overboard with their shopping.

There was a soft knock on her door, and she heard her mother calling her on the other side. "Sakura,"

"Come in," Sakura said, tying her gown properly around her body. Mebuki walked in, followed by three more figures, Kakashi, Yamato, and Sai. They were back safely from their mission and upon their arrival, they had heard the news that Sakura had given birth while they were away and wanted to see her as soon as possible.

Sakura grinned in relief, seeing that they were all back safely from their mission. "Hey. What brings all of you here?"

"We just heard the news from Lady Tsunade," Kakashi said, smiling under his mask as he entered the room. He glanced at the cribs before looking back at Sakura to ask for permission and Sakura signaled them to go ahead.

Looking at the opening of the door, Sakura realized that they were missing one person. "Where's Naruto?"

"He went home straight after we returned. He didn't go to report into the Hokage, so he doesn't know," replied Sai.

Sakura sighed, leaning up against the wall. "Doesn't sound like the mission went well then?"

"Not really," Sai replied, glancing at Sakura. "You don't look as bad as I thought you would, for someone who had twins."

Sakura raised her eyebrow, putting a hand on her hip. "Well, why don't you try squeezing something the size of a watermelon through an opening the size of a lemon-do it twice and see how hot you look after that."

The pinkette laughed when the three males winced at the mental picture she had painted for them; Sakura could bet that if they were in that room, they would have fainted.

'Give a man a sword and he could go to war, give scissors to cut an umbilical cord; he passes out and I know that from seeing it firsthand'

Yamato and Kakashi were still peering into the cribs to look at the two sleeping babies, it became almost comical with the way they were looking at her children as if they hadn't seen one before.

"Are they boys or girls?" asked Yamato.

"The one on the left is the boy and on the right is the girl." Sakura pointed, craning her neck to reduce the painful creak she felt. There were times when she would have to sit up with the twins resting on her chest while she sat up, sometimes all night.

"What are their names?" Kakashi asked.

"The boy's name is Badr and the girl's name is Esra." Sakura pointed

"Those are strange names," said Sai.

"They're named after their grandparents," Sakura shrugged.

Kakashi narrowed his eye, "But Sakura-

"I'm not talking about my parents." She confirmed. She didn't think it would be an issue for them to know this little detail, she wanted her children to know I as well as soon as they could retain what was said to them.

"So what happened on the mission?" Sakura asked, after feeling she should take the topic to a new line.

There was an obvious hesitance that the three males shared while they gave Sakura the just of the missions turn of events.

There were apparently a lot of complications during their search for Itachi and Sasuke; that included other Akatsuki members who had interfered. They had discovered that Sasuke was not traveling alone anymore and has formed a team. Battles were raging everywhere during the time too, not just for the Leaf ninja but also for Sasuke as there was evidence he defeated an Akatsuki member Deidara. Sasuke had also finally gone against his brother Itachi and killed him-this was in accordance to the evidence they found when they were chasing after the Uchiha. Sasuke was gone by the time they had arrived though since they were delayed. While Sasuke was fighting Itachi; Kakashi, Naruto, and everyone was being held off by a single Akatsuki member known as 'Tobi.'

"That's it huh?" Sakura asked, folding her arms across her chest.

Kakashi nodded solemnly, "We don't have anything regarding Sasuke's whereabouts; I'm sorry Sakura."

The pinkette gave a blank smile; seeing her old sensei attempting to comfort her when he had no reason to do so. He had only really ever known her as the girl who was in love with Sasuke Uchiha and it didn't surprise her that he might still think that a piece of her former self-lingered.

"That's okay Kakashi. There's nothing to apologize for."

* * *

Sakura was awake the whole night, and this time it wasn't on account of Badr and Esra who she found would remain settled and silent if they were resting right on top of her chest. Her mind was streaming different thoughts to her nearly one after the other she could hardly review any. From the mission to Naruto to Sasuke to her children, to Sinbad and looping in an unorganized cycle.

'Sasuke, what are you doing right now?' Closing her eyes, Sakura could still picture that raven-haired twelve-year-old she used to fawn all over since she was a little girl. What had been childish adoration had somehow developed into something more, and before Sakura even realized it, she was in love. Truly in love for the first time. When she thought about it now it was still a mystery to her how it happened, she couldn't place the time or event but that night when Sasuke left and she begged him to stay, professing her love, she was nothing short of the truth. That's what hurt. She also realized just how hard love could be. Because it was without logic. And more often than not, no one saw the pain that would accompany love.

Sakura was different with Sinbad in this manner, she had been keeping herself a distance from him because she didn't want to fall in love with anyone else but Sinbad had done what Sasuke hadn't; he pursued her. Even when he didn't realize it himself and he showed her what it was to be loved and not just be in love. Sinbad had been the one to fall in love with her, and she could understand her own feelings for Sinbad because it was exactly how she felt about Sasuke. She knew love. And for a while, she saw that love could do more than hurt her. That was a time she wanted to remember for the rest of her life and beyond because Sakura had accepted that once she returned home, she would no longer have that kind of love given to her again.

And she was okay with that.

Sakura smiled, looking down at her children sleeping soundly on top of her, softly rubbing Badr's head when he started squiring a little.

"I promise, the two of you will never feel like you have to do anything for my love. And I'll make sure my love doesn't hurt you." A tear slipped down her cheek, "And I promise that at the end of it all, I will put you two above everything and everyone else. No matter what."

* * *

When Sakura saw Naruto again, it was not the reunion they were expecting, in fact, there wasn't a moment for them to say anything to each other when Tsunade had called in all of the members of Team Kakashi. It was an odd sight when they came to Hokage tower and right outside there were two large toads, one red toad that was literally the size of the tower and another, slightly smaller but still surpassing the size of an average toad, these were animal summoning's. Who Naruto knew because he and Jiraiya were the ones who would summon them.

When they arrived inside Tsunade's office there were four other toads there to greet them as well. However, there was an elderly toad who only really spoke. He looked at Naruto when he entered the room, while the blonde noted the solemn expression on everyone's faces.

"Oh, so this is Jiraiya-boy's student…"

"Yes, this is Naruto Uzumaki," Tsunade introduced.

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the old toad, "A geezer frog? What the hell?"

Tsunade was quick to reprimand him, "Watch your mouth Naruto! This is Lord Fukasaku, one of the two Great sages of Mount Myoboku. He came all the way here to speak with you."

It was then revealed that Fakasaku was actually also Jiraiya's teacher, hence the reference to the sanin as 'Jiraiya-boy'; to which Naruto had taken offense to.

" _Slugs and toads….my king are there any other creatures in your world that speak the common tongue and are ridiculously large?" asked Orias_

'Well, I know there are snakes,' Sakura told her before returning to the conversation before her.

"So what does this geezer-frog want with me?" Naruto asked

"Where should I begin…" Fukasaku said, closing his yellow eyes. "I suppose the primary would be….Jiraiya-boy has died in battle."

Naruto looked like he had been frozen at that moment, but this was what they had been told right before Naruto had appeared. "What-What are you talking about?"

Everyone stayed quiet, waiting for Naruto to hear the explanation.

Fukasaku explained to them that there were rumors Jiraiya had followed regarding the Akatsuki leader who was in the Hidden Rain village and he found those rumors to be true. He met with the Akatsuki leader known as "Pain" but his real name was Nagato; the reason they knew this was because he had been a student of Jiraiya's in the past.

Tsunade verified this story, saying that Jiraiya had in fact taken care of three orphans during the Great Ninja War. And apparently they were all now a part of the Akatsuki, hence their reunion was not as expected; a battle had broken out and as a result, Jiraiya; outnumbered, had been defeated. It was a terrifying notion.

"To corner someone like master Jiraiya…" Kakashi trailed, his arms firmly crossed. "How did they…?"

Fakasaku then said something that stilled the entire room.

"Pain possesses the Rinnegan."

Everyone who had an idea of what this was had shown surprised faces; that included Tsunade, Shizune, Kakashi and Sai. This information though, it wasn't at all new to her. She knew what the Rinnegan was; an ocular jutsu said to be possessed by the father of ninja. The Sage of the sixth paths. What's more in enabled the host incredible abilities.

Sakura was already biting her lips as Fukasaku continued with his explanation; keeping in mind to watch for Naruto's reaction.

The news only got worse

"The Rinnegan, it's power was beyond imagination. Not only that but…..there were six figures who referred to themselves as Pain that possessed the Rinnegan."

"Six of them?!" Kakashi asked in disbelief. "How is that possible?"

"Perhaps there's a trick to it," Fugasaku said unsurely; although he had been there in battle with Jiraiya, he was truly unsure of the enemies power and true capabilities. "Most likely, only Jiraiya-boy discovered their secret…Even after he had his throat crushed by Pain, Jiraiya-boy left a message before collapsing." Fukasaku then started removing the cloak wrapped around him and showed them a coded message that Jiraiya had left right before he died, there were numbers marked on his back, he also gave the body of a Hidden Rain village ninja as well as one of the bodies of the six Pain's that they managed to store away.

But Naruto didn't care about any of this. His thoughts occupied solely on the fact that his teacher was now gone.

"Did you let him go….Granny?" Naruto asked softly.

Tsunade had her hands folded, resting in front of her mouth as she looked at Naruto before turning down and replying.

"Yes."

Sakura watched silently as Naruto raved to Tsunade, asking how she could have let Jiraiya go on his own in the first place before he stormed out of the office, leaving behind a lot of tensions.

" _What shall we do now, my king?" asked Beleth._

* * *

Sakura decided it would be best to leave Naruto to himself for a little while so that he could get his feelings settled. She knew that Jiraiya was more than just a teacher, he was also like a father figure to him, hence the grief he would feel for the loss of one. To distract herself from her worry, Sakura had gone with Tsunade, Kakashi, and Sai to the Autopsy Room to examine Pain's corpse that Fusaku brought to them.

What Sakura had seen then, was a man with bright orange hair; who had thick metal piercings all over his body including his face and his eyes, where a dim purple grey tinged with a ripple pattern-the Rinnegan. They believed that if they studied the body, then they might be able to find a weakness in the other Pain's.

'It's so similar to what Yunan showed me,'

Sakura had stayed there the entire day and then Tsunade had her call in Shikamaru to decipher the code that was engraved on Fusaku's back late at night. They had taken a picture before the old toad left.

* * *

Returning home, Sakura took Badr and Esra from her parents and laid them down in front of her on the bed. Propped up on the pillows, the infants hardly moved, their eyes weren't focused and still roaming around the room. Sakura giggled, touching Badr's face, trailing her finger along his cheek. She then looked at Esra, she was beginning to get fussy just sitting around already.

"Not very patient are you baby?" Sakura cooed softly; she rested her hand on her chin. Esra started crying, so Sakura picked her up to nurse her. "Greedy too; seems you've got more of your father in you than me."

Pausing briefly, Sakura whispered softly. "I wonder just how sad a face you're going to make when you realize you won't be able to find your father anywhere in this world."

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

"SAKURA-HEY SAKURA-OPEN UP"

Since Sakura could hardly get a moment of peace at night to sleep, she would often end up taking naps after nursing Badr and Esra but last night she had been thinking about Jiraiya's death and how Naruto was coping. And she was just about to fall asleep that afternoon only to be woken up by rapid knocking on her sliding door by the balcony. Throwing a robe over her body, Sakura walked over to the door quickly, to stop whoever was there before they woke up Badr and Esra, who had already begun to squirm. Rolling up the blinds, Sakura saw that it was Naruto.

"Naruto? What are you doing?" Sakura hissed, putting a finger to her lips as she slid open the door, "Don't make a noise."

"Sakura, Sakura! Is it true, you already gave birth?" Naruto asked, stepping into the room.

Sakura's mouth opened but no words came out; true that yesterday was the first time she had seen him since he came back from his mission and the news of Jiraiya's death must have cleared the rest of reality from his mind for a while but did he really not notice she was down three sizes?

"Yes, Naruto." Sakura deadpanned, crossing her arms over her chest. "I already gave birth, look over there.

Naruto peered over into the crib where Badr and Esra were resting on their backs and she was partially expecting the usual hyper-reaction that Naruto tended to give when it came to these types of situations but instead he continued to just look at them, in complete silence.

"Naruto, are you okay?" She asked.

The boy continued to watch the twins sleep quietly, he had a sad smile on his face. "What are their names?"

"Esra and Badr." Sakura pointed to them while she explained. Naruto gave the same confused look as most people had whenever she first told them her children's names as they were completely unheard of.

"How'd you come up with those?"

Sakura chuckled, folding her arms under her chest. "They're named after their grandparents."

"But I thought your parent's names were-

"I wasn't referring to my parents, Naruto." The pinkette interjected.

Naruto was silent for a few minutes, just staring the babies in the crib.

"Kurenai-sensei is also pregnant…."

"Yes, I know."

Sakura supposed that Naruto hadn't really been able to keep up with everything happening in the village when he was occupied on finding Sasuke.

Naruto looked down at his hand, opening his palm. Sakura stepped beside him and put her own hand in his open one, holding it in comfort. She didn't bring up Jiraiya to Naruto, in case he wouldn't want to talk about it. She decided it better to let him choose if he wanted to talk or not. Forcing it would probably only make him clamp up in grief.

"Iruka-sensei talked with me last night and Shikamaru came to me this morning."

"Oh?"

Naruto exhaled softly, "Whining and sulking isn't going to help anything. We're past that point in our lives that's what Shikamaru said to me." There was a snicker from Naruto, as he uses his free hand to wipe the tears ready to fall. "We can't stay kids forever….I understand that now. From listening to Shikamaru, Iruka-sensei and watching you, Sakura."

"Me?" The pinkette asked surprised,

Naruto nodded, "I don't know how but, you look like you're already grown up. So, I have a favor to ask…"

Letting go of her hand, Naruto turned to face his teammate with determined eyes. "Will you wait for me a little longer?"

Sakura's heart felt like it soared, as she looked at Naruto, knowing that he wasn't there yet but he was prepared to find a way to stand in a new light and Sakura smiled, stepping forward to hug Naruto.

"Stupid, you don't have to ask."

* * *

'The real one's not among them.' That was the message that Jiraiya had relayed back to the Leaf. Naruto, Kakashi, Shikamaru and a member from the Cipher corps, Shiho had been working on figuring out what the coded message was and that's what they had finally concluded. Naruto helped them realize that the numbers written down were clueing them to look at his book, Makeout-Tactics, where they were able to place the code.

'The real one's not among them.'

They showed the message to Fukasaku and asked him if he knew anything about what Jiraiya may be speaking about but unfortunately, nothing seemed to come to mind. He said that before anyone could face Pain-a being who could resurrect himself from the dead; they needed to know all of his secrets.

The autopsy on the Pain Jiraiya had defeated was still going to take a while; the process was tedious in checking every detail, never overlooking a single entity or factor. It was one of their best options in discovering the secret behind Pain, but the problem with that was time consumption-something Naruto at this point was not big on.

However, Naruto's rage and this for vengeance was quickly satisfied when he was offered the chance to go and train in Sage Jutsu with Fukasaku.

Tsunade then stated, "Pain defeated Jiraiya, who had summoned Lord Fukasaku and Lady Shima. What this means is currently, no one in the Hidden Leaf can defeat Pain."

Sakura's fists clenched at her side, 'We'll see about that.'

Sakura saw off Naruto at the village gate with Shikamaru and Tsunade. Fukasaku used a reverse summoning Jutsu to transport Naruto to Mount Myboku. It was no guarantee of how long the Sage training was going to take but Sakura was certain that if anyone could pull it off, it was Naruto.

Putting her hand on top of the rings around her neck, Sakura looked up at the skies, clear and free from clouds. 'It won't stay this way for long. Naruto, Sasuke. I'm sorry, but staying behind is no longer an option for me.'

Just as the skies were clear, so was Sakura's resolve.

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

"Sakura are you sure you're okay to help? What about your-

"Badr and Esra are fine Shikamaru, they're at home with my parents."

A few days had passed since Naruto had left with Fukasaku. Shizune and her team were still examining Pains body but so far hadn't come up with much and as for the code Jiraiya had left behind, they weren't able to find anything there either beyond the words deciphered and Inoichi-Ino's father was searching through the memories of the corpse to find something of use regarding Pain.

Sakura was currently in the Cipher Division with Shikamaru and Shiho, a member of the cipher division. They were all seated at a table with the single page of the code in front of them.

"The-real-ones-not-among-them," Shiho repeated the message, as if in the hopes that something new would be discovered in saying it out loud.

"We have to take all this information and figure out the mystery behind this guy named Pain," Shikamaru said. "The mystery of someone who could even take on Lord Jiraiya. Maybe the Six Pains were genjutsu. A jutsu created by the female Akatsuki member who was also said to be present. And she's the one who physically attacked from the shadows."

"I don't think so; according to Lord Fukasaku, Lord Jiraiya was stabbed by real weapons used by all six of them," Sakura said.

Shikamaru sighed, crossing his arms. He tried to think of another scenario that would explain this.

"While he took down three of them, they supposedly resurrected themselves. It sounds like an unbelievable genjutsu."

" _You're really talented at playing naïve aren't you?" Sitri deadpanned._

"Common sense has no meaning when it comes to the Akatsuki. There were other members that were immortal." Said Shikamaru.

Un-killable was almost a certainty but unbeatable; that wasn't the case when Shikamaru's team and the rest of Sakura's went after those two 'immortal' Akatsuki members. A part of her wished she hadn't been so far along so that she could have helped them.

Sakura settled her elbows on the table, "Actually I've been thinking about that message. 'The real one'; do you think that could be referring to the real Pain?"

Shikamaru and Shiho looked at the pinkette slightly surprised by her evaluation. "What made you think of that?" Shiho asked.

Sakura scratched her nail on the wood of the table then looked back to the two, figuring out how she was going to word. "Well; there was supposedly six Pain's right? Yet Fukasaku-sama mentioned that Pain was a student of Jiraiya-sama's. So how would there be six of them? What if….Pain was one person represented through six?"

Shikamaru seemed to understand what she was implying and yet at the same time he couldn't wrap his head around it and that was saying a lot. "Yeah, but how would that be possible?"

"They had the power to take down one of the legendary Sanin. I don't think we should limit ourselves to what we can only see. Like you said, common sense has no meaning when it comes to the Akatsuki." Sakura simply said. She ignored some of her djinn's snickers in the back of her mind, saying what a great actress she could become with the way she was fooling her friends into believing she truly just came up with this theory.

'I had seen the previous Great ninja wars, I know what the results were from them. Including those three students of Jiraiya's.'

There were three, two boys and one girl in the Hidden Rain village; Nagato, Konan, and Yahiko. At that time Yunan had become particular to listening to certain people from the Leaf village that included the three Sanin. That's how he knew Nagato was the one who had the Rinnegan and that's how Sakura therefore knew, it was also how she knew who had transplanted it into Nagato's eyes in the first place.

'Everything in this world is so closely interconnected with fine threads, that no one can see and walk straight through.'

"I have a feeling that it's a lot simpler than we're imagining." Sakura tilted her head. "The Rinnegan, perhaps figuring out the ability of that would help."

"We'll have to wait for the autopsy to be finished first," Shiho stated, he was obviously far from satisfied at the thought but they have come as far as they could with the little information they had by far.

"Well, how would-

Shikamaru didn't get to finish speaking because there was suddenly a large tremor that shook the building along with everyone in it.

"What was that?" Shikamaru asked, standing up from the table.

Sakura pushed back from the table, knocking her chair to the ground and moving to the window to see what was happening. From a few buildings in the distance, she saw smoke coming from them and where there was smoke, there was fire. With that much though, the real issue was what had started that fire?

'Or who…'

"What is that?!" Sakura asked, frowning.

"Sakura, you should get home now." Shikamaru said, moving to leap out of the window "I'm going to get Kurenai-sensei and take her to the underground tunnel. You should do the same, get your children to safety."

Sakura didn't need to be told, she rushed home immediately, but she had no intention of retreating.

" _Well my king?" asked Beleth_

Sakura's eyes hardened, 'Yes, soon.'

* * *

Sakura ran through the chaos that the village was currently enduring, there were buildings collapsing all around her, people running in every direction with panic that it was as if they had all their common sense and the only thing left was their desire to survive. While running in the direction of her home, Sakura saw a giant orange centipede, its eyes had the Rennegan. No doubt it was probably summoned but after seeing those eyes, Sakura had a very good idea of who was now attacking the village.

There were a young girl and elderly women cowering away from the centipede as it locked its gaze on them; Sakura quickly ran towards them, pulling back her fist as the centipede swept forward to attack. Appearing in front, Sakura punched its head, the skull cracked as it fell to the ground.

"Are you alright?!" Sakura asked.

The girl nodded and the women frantically thanked Sakura. Still, in a hurry to get back home, Sakura quickly healed the girl's wound on her knee.

"Sakura!"

Looking forward, Iruka was hastily moving towards her. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Sakura said, standing up. "Iruka-sensei, can you please help them; I need to get home."

Iruka nodded without hesitation and told her to go; Sakura didn't need to hear it twice before she was rushing at full speed. Her heart beating frantically with a terror she didn't know could exist. She wanted to help the village, she was going to but there was a priority that stood above the rest at that moment.

'I know who's starting the fire.'

* * *

Sakura practically tore open the door to her home, her mother and father were in the living room with Badr and Esra who were crying loudly in her parent's arms.

"Sakura!" Mebuki exclaimed in relief, Badr and Esra were in their baby carrier, screaming loudly. "What's going on? What is all that noise?" asked Kizashi.

"The village is under attack," Sakura said while running to her room, her voice projected through the entire apartment. While they could hear the noise, there weren't any falling buildings, fires or summoning's attacking anyone in the area and Sakura wanted to make sure that they left before the chaos inevitably grew and reached them.

"Under attack!?" Mebuki exclaimed.

Sakura came back barely three minutes later, she had her waist bag with her medical equipment and a stuffed baby bag full of Badr and Esra's essentials. Sakura then went to the kitchen and with haste grabbed her children's bottles. She then handed it to her father and started leading her parents out of the house.

"The situation's serious there's no time to waste," Sakura said, waiting for them to get through the door.

"Sakura-

"You need to get to the evacuation shelter; I'll take you to the underground tunnels," Sakura said, she put her hands on Badr and Esra's head, gently rubbing them, their weeps becoming softer, calmer as if they knew their mother's touch.

* * *

Sakura saw the line of civilians, rushing up the stairs leading to Hokage rock; where the tunnels were leading to the shelter. Shikamaru also appeared with Kurenai, she was now a few months pregnant and at this time, unable to do battle.

"Sakura, good you made it."

"Are you alright?" Sakura asked, looking at Shikamaru and then Kurenai, more specifically her stomach that had grown to a certain degree after the past few weeks.

"We're fine." Kurenai nodded.

Turning around, Sakura faced her parents once again. "I need to help out here,"

Despite the statement, a very selfish part of her wanted to go with her parents, to be with her children. Tears gathered at the end of her eyes and Sakura blinked them away. She kissed Badr and Esra on their heads and then stepped back.

"I'll be back, baby angels."

* * *

Sakura and Shikamaru ended up parting ways as they ran through the village, she had to keep her eyes ahead as she heard the screaming, the rubble growing as people were buried under the pile of broken buildings. The scent of death, growing stronger and so was Sakura's rage. When Sakura reached the entrance of Konoha hospital, she saw people by the dozens being carried in. Chouji was also there with a bag of pills for the patients. Upon entering, she found that there were people lying on the ground. All in pain, injured, their spirits sunken and the medics that were attending to them were clearly outnumbered.

"God…" Sakura bit her lip.

"Miss Sakura, you're just in time." One of the medics stood up after treating another injured and came over to her. "Please take command. There are so many wounded even the medical ninja are in a state of confusion."

Sakura knew that Shizune was still busy with the autopsy on Pain, Tsunade was definitely already busy with the surprise attack and from what she had seen outside, there were going to be a lot more injured brought in. The medics were definitely having a problem because they were filling up people in the lobby and treating them there.

'I just have to wait a little longer.' Sakura closed her eyes, inhaling before opening them again with a new glimmer of determination and strength.

"Everyone listen; if you are able to walk, go to the evacuation shelter immediately." Sakura ordered and then looked at the medic "Those who are in critical condition are colored red and those whose treatment can wait will be yellow, and those with minor injuries are green. Tag them with ribbons and separate them."

Chouji handed Sakura the bag of pills, "You're really amazing, Sakura. I'm going to back out, good luck here."

Sakura nodded, "Same to you out there."

Sakura didn't waste time, she had to make haste if she wanted to go out into the field to help as soon as possible. But first, she was going to have to ensure that things somehow became manageable here.

'I wonder if that's even possible right now.'

* * *

The room of injured was nearly completely full, people lying on clothes on the floor, packed tightly together, of course, they weren't complaining about accommodation as their injuries took up all those slots, but Sakura had steadily started working through them. Remembering her time in Kou, she used three shadow clones to speed up the treating process.

However, as predicted, the number of injured continued to grow with the continuous chaos outside and more people were continuing to come in. It was now official that the Akatsuki had managed to infiltrate the village and were causing havoc.

'They're probably searching for Naruto,' Sakura thought while she continued to treat a man's broken arm.

Wiping her forehead, Sakura turned to the nurse next to her as she removed her hand from the patient's arm. "I'm finished, you can handle the splint."

"Right,"

"Sakura!" Iruka came in, with an injured ninja on his back. "One more wounded, hurry."

"Right, put him over there." Sakura pointed to a clear space on the floor with a blanket set. She almost fell when the whole building shook, whatever was happening outside, it was close.

 _"There's no end." Sitri said, "At this rate, we're never going to get our chance to fight."_

'I can't rush this,' Sakura hissed back as she started healing yet another injured. 'I have to protect this village in every way I can.'

Despite her efforts, the number of injured coming in was more than what the medics could handle even with the coding, in which red was dominating over the rest at this stage. There were battles raging on outside, from what Sakura could hear, feel as well as the whispers of the ninja who came in talking of six Akatsuki with abilities the hadn't seen before. They were questioning the ninja about the whereabouts of Naruto. The minutes that passed for Sakura was excruciating.

'What is this….?'

Sakura had suddenly felt something overtake her entire body, a darkness of sorts with an ill intent that was extending to such an extent it felt like it was a wave trying to swallow the entire village, when she glanced out of the window, she saw nothing for the moments she remained frozen before she made her way outside.

* * *

Sakura ran out of the hospital doors, looking around at the village, there was a clear sign of destruction around every turn, she could place a few missing buildings and there were more smoke lines moving into the air.

"Sakura! Is that you?"

Looking to her left, Sakura saw Katasuyu or rather a smaller version of her slithering towards her.

"How are you here?"

Katsuyu was the only one who knew by far of Sakura journey to the other world since Sakura discovered she could actually summon there. And she hadn't exactly made Katsuyu aware of her presence again.

"No time for explaining that. Katsuyu, what's going on right now?"

"The village is being attacked by the six Pain's," Katsuyu told her, "Tsunade-sama has sent me to heal everyone but-

Sakura felt it again, a dark, ominous feeling, she turned to look up to the sky, for a while her eyes darted around and when she saw nothing, she thought that this chill running along her body was merely fear finally catching up to her, but then she saw something in the sky, high above Konoha, too high to make out any features.

" _MY KING"_ Her djinn's called simultaneously.

"Sakura!" Katsuyu called again

She was barely able to register anything, not the feeling of the tremor, nor the way the outside was rushed with dust rubble before she was engulfed by darkness. The noise was so loud that she thought her eardrums would burst. Something wet and slimy covered had her body, and she was wrapped in a musky warmth. Through the thick, blackness, Sakura could hear it, the rumblings of the earth that shook unlike anything and she felt that if she saw what was out there, she would feel nothing but terror.

" _What is happening outside?" asked Stolas_

Sakura was afraid to see it and yet she knew she would.

When Sakura heard a soft squelching noise, her line of vision was soon filled with light and suddenly she could breathe again. She fell forward on her knees, coughing heavily and realized only then that she had just come out of Katsuyu who had protected her.

When her vision turned to normal, Sakura couldn't mask the horror on her face to what had become of The Leaf Village. What was once the hospital, was now nothing but a pile of rubble, added to other buildings that had been completed eradicated and were now nothing more than pieces that had no hope of repair, clouds of dust covered the area but she could still see it clearly. From the center of the village leading outwards, what was once filled with homes, buildings, stores, roads, now a desolate land of nothing but dirt, the corners of the village rimmed with its remains that weren't pushed out and piled together.

The Village Hidden in the Leaves was destroyed.

Sakura could hear her djinn's calling out to her but she didn't want to listen to them, as grief overtook her when she realized that everything she had come to know, love and grow up to was now gone.

A tear slipped down her cheek. 'My home.'

Sakura looked up at the sky, there was someone hovering below the sun.

 _"What devastating power," Stolas said._

'He did this….' Sakura trembled. This was supposed to be where Badr and Erza would grow up and they had taken that away. A familiar feeling of hate started to bubble within her, Sakura could feel her heart grew heavy with it, clouding in darkness.

When Sakura stood up she saw something in the distance, near the center of the cleared land, a large puff of white smoke appeared and then she could see something, three figures but they were too far out for her to make out who or what they were.

"What is that?"

"It's Naruto!" Sakura turned to her right and saw a male ninja, he was obviously from the Hyuga clan because he had the Byakugan, which he was using to see from their distance. Sakura also saw another Katsuyu, so she assumed that he must have been saved by the slug as well.

"Naruto!?" Sakura gasped, quickly standing up a little too fast. She couldn't help feel overwhelming filled with hope now that he was finally back.

Sakura glanced beside her, seeing that Hyuga distracted by Naruto's appearance. While he did so, Sakura started backing away, looking behind her she started running.

"I'm going to go check for any injured!" Sakura called, knowing that she wouldn't be followed then.

Reaching behind her into her bag, Sakura drew out a cloak and cat mask, painted a plain white with yellow slit eyes staring back at her. She decided to discard her previous half-faced mask in favor of a full face, although there was an oval hole carved in its forehead. Sakura could feel her djinn's thrumming in anticipation and so was she.

" _Is it time my king?" asked Beleth_

"Yes. I've had enough of this." Sakura slipped the mask over her face, securing it tightly. "Dwell inside my body…..

* * *

When Naruto appeared, he found himself looking at the remains of his village but he did not recognize it and thought there had been a mistake when he was teleported back and saw nothing but dust and what appeared to be a wasteland. He returned, having mastered his new sage mode and was eager upon hearing about the Akatsuki's attack however when he looked around, all he could see was residue of brown dust mixed with the white smoke that resulted from the summoning.

He hadn't come back alone either but with five other toads, Fukasaku included, then there was the Chief Toad, Gamabunta. Then there was the Toad on his right, similar in height, aquamarine colored with two large katana's on his back; this was Gamahiro. On the left, there was another large mangenta colored toad, Gamaken. Also standing on top of the chief toads head, and whom Naruto was standing on top of, was Gamakichi, Gamabunta's oldest son.

He saw a figure appearing from the sky in a puff of smoke and landing somewhere a fair distance from him, but Naruto wasn't as concerned as he was confused.

"Where are we?" Naruto asked, looking around. Just then a familiar female toad leapt through the smoke and landed in front of Naruto and Fukasaku. Shima was another Sage toad like her husband Fukasaku. She had come ahead to the village while Naruto was training in order to do the reverse summoning to bring Naruto back from Mount Myoboku.

"What's going on Ma?!" asked Fukasaku. "Why didn't you summon us to the Leaf village?"

"This is the Leaf village!" the toad exclaimed.

Once Naruto saw the Hokage's faces on the mountain he realized then that it was indeed the Hidden Leaf Village-or what was left of it. The devastation was beyond anything he imagined possible.

"And it's obvious who did this." Shima said, "I sense the same energies as the ones when we fought with Jiraiya."

Naruto narrowed his eyes, filling with rage as he realized that the ones who killed Jiraiya were here, in his village.

. One of them stepped forward, he had short spiky orange hair, three piercings in his nose, spider bites and several piercings on his ears. And while Naruto was unaware, this Pain was facing the leader of the Akatsuki, also known as Tendo (Deva Path) Pain.

"You've saved us the trouble of looking for you." He said.

Looking up at the sky, Naruto saw five figures appear and land in front of him, near where the first one had appeared, they all wearing the Akatsuki cloaks. There stood six orange haired figures-the Pains

"Looks like all six have assembled," Fukasaku said.

Naruto appeared to be preparing to say something but he didn't get the chance as a new figure stepped in. Tsunade had appeared in between Naruto and the six Pains in a fury, though exhausted from spending her chakra to deploy Katsuyu to heal everyone and save them from the blast that destroyed the village. However, like all those that had survived the devastation, she was fueled by her anger to ignore all logic that rendered her too weak to go against the six Pains.

An Anbu member also appeared chasing after her. "Hokage-sama!"

"I am the fifth Hokage!" Tsunade announced, panting softly, feeling the blood trickling down the side of her face. "You trampled on the jewel, the dreams of my predecessors. I will not forgive you! As Hokage, I'll end this here!"

Tendo looked at Tsunade indifferently with his Rinnegan eyes. "It appears you now understand a little about pain. However, my business is not with you. The one I want is….."

One of the Pains launched himself towards Tsunade in the most literal sense. This Pain had the appearance of a burly male, there were spikes coming out of his head and from his feet at this moment was metal blasting fire to give him the speed to charge forward in the air. From his coat, his arm outstretched with spikes of sharp metal aiming right for Tsunade. This was The Asura Path, 'Shurado' Pain.

When Naruto moved to attack the Pain coming towards them, he had to jump back when, something blurred through his line of vision and crashed directly into Shurado, pinning him to the ground. The sound of metal bending, twisting and breaking was heard, the iron scattered across the ground, all which had come from Shurado's body. Within the Shurado Pain, there was a large white spear impaling him.

"What the….?" Naruto stopped, staring wide-eyed at the weapon that appeared from the skies.

"Who….?" Trailed Fukasaku, just as confused as the rest of them where.

"Where did that come from?" asked the Anbu with Tsunade, he looked up and saw something floating in the air. The figure landed on the ground swiftly, hovering in the air for a moment before landing softly on the ground, turning to face Naruto, Tsunade, the Anbu and the toads.

A girl without a doubt considering what her attire revealed. White feathers held together with gold piping, on both of her breasts; a short white wrapping around her waist barely reaching her thighs, her feet lined with gold lacing wrapping around her legs. She had long light blue hair, a golden tiara on her head. No one could see her face due to the full-face mask she wore-a cat's mask, but in the center there was a gaping hole, revealing…a third eye.

"Who…." Tsunade panted, "Who are you?"

"That cat mask….is she the one who appeared that night and disabled the corpse jutsu?" asked the Anbu.

"That girl!?" Tsunade asked astonished. The rumors sounded so farfetched and had only gotten worse as time progressed that she was beginning to think it was nothing more than a trick or genjutsu of sorts; had it not been the multitude of ninja who reported seeing the girl in the cat mask. She indeed was real, but that just created a lot of question that were not going to get answered in this current setting.

"Who is that?" Naruto asked.

Sakura looked at her master, although her expression was hidden from the rest, she could feel her features etching nothing but concern for the women. She then turned to take a look at Naruto, and she could instantly see the difference. He had done it and mastered sage mode. His eyes were now yellow and toad-like with orange pigment around his eyes. He was also wearing a red cloak and there was a huge scroll strapped to his back.

'I knew you could do it, Naruto.'

Walking over to the Shurado Pain she attacked, Sakura grabbed her spear and withdrew it, then pointed it towards the remaining five Pains.

This was not only to show that she had her weapon aimed at them but to communicate clearly whose side she was standing on.

"Who is she?" asked Fukasaku; even though it appeared no one had the answer to that question.

"We've heard the story; on the night that Konoha was nearly destroyed months ago. A masked girl appeared in the sky and help protect the village by wiping out the enemies jutsu that revived the dead." The Anbu explained to them.

"So she's an ally," Naruto said.

Sakura turned her body towards Naruto, giving a slight nod.

The Pain's looked on at the newcomer, who was truly unexpected. What's more, there was no chakra signal emitted from her, so they were unaware of her presence and they couldn't see anything coming from her either.

'I don't know what this is.' Thought the Deva Path.

"Look, I appreciate you wanting to help out but I can handle things from here on," Naruto said.

She did not move, and as a sign that she wasn't going anywhere, Sakura crossed her arms turning full to face Naruto, her hip slightly jutting out to the side. Naruto clenched his jaw, he didn't have time to argue when he had a limit to how long he could stay in sage mode and he was wasting it.

"Come on!" Naruto exclaimed,

Sakura visibly shook her head.

Tsunade glanced between Naruto and this mysterious stranger aiding them. From what she heard, this girl had incredible power; although Tsunade also remembered hearing that her attacks were water-based; was it possible she could use two elements?

Tsunade made a decision then.

"Accept her assistance Naruto." Tsunade said in a firm tone, "If you do not want me to intervene and send an entire team to back you; accept her assistance. This is an order."

Naruto looked at Tsunade and then back to one of his toads who looked just as stuck as he was right now, he didn't have time to spare and he didn't want the others to get caught in the crossfire. It didn't look like he was left with much of a choice and he didn't know how much longer the Pains were simply going to stand there.

Sakura stood beside Naruto, she extended her arm, her hand tightened in a fist. She held it there, waiting for him and Naruto understood what she wanted him to do.

"Alright then, let's do this!" Naruto exclaimed, he formed a fist and lightly bumped it with the unknown girl.

Sakura turned back, holding up her weapon. The Pains quickly took a formation. Three were in front, the Tendo Pain in the middle and another at the back. It was as if they were protecting the Pain in the middle; the one who had destroyed the entire village.

"Gamakichi!"

The big orange toad jumped down from his father's head, waiting for Naruto's instructions.

"Take Granny Tsunade someplace safe!" Naruto ordered. "Granny, I'll take over from here, tell everyone to stay out of the way. It'll make it harder to fight."

"Understood." Tsunade then pulled something out of her robe; a smaller Katsuyu. "Take Katsuyu; she has information on them."

Fukasaku grabbed the slug, jumping onto the scroll that Naruto had on his back along with Shima and told Katsuyu to hide in his jacket pocket.

"Now may not be the right time to ask this question, but since I mastered nature energy, I can sense everyone's chakra…Is Kakashi sensei on a mission away from the village?"

Sakura's hold on her weapon tightened; her shoulders grew stiff. Why would he ask something like that? When Tsunade didn't reply, Sakura and Naruto know that something happened and while they wanted to deny it-it was probably the worst case.

"I see." Naruto trailed. "Then what about….Sakura?"

Tsunade gasped, "What do you mean Naruto; Sakura's fine isn't she? Katsuyu protected her, I felt it!"

The blonde haired boy didn't respond, realizing that he probably shouldn't have asked about the pinkette. Hopefully, she was in the shelter away from this chaos; if not…..

"Oh sorry, you must be right," Naruto said, keeping his eyes on the enemy.

But Tsunade was persistent in this, "Naruto, what was that about Sakura-

"Go Gamikichi."

A breath left Sakura as Tsunade was carried away by Gamikichi; Sakura could tell that her teacher was in a vulnerable condition right now. The further away from the battlefield, she was, the better. Although she hoped that Tsunade wouldn't focus on finding her.

Sakura could feel Naruto's newly acquired power as well as see it, through her third djinn's eye, she saw that there was more than just chakra gathered inside of him, there was also an external energy assimilated to nature that was increasing his ability. This must have been the result of his training.

"You know, it's weird," Naruto said, glancing at Sakura. "I said I could sense everyone's chakra, but I can't feel yours at all-

Naruto had to divert his attention because one of the Pains, the only female of the group, Chikushodo, The Animal Path, slammed her hands on the ground, summoning several animals, a rhino, bull and a dog, all larger than buildings, all with the Rinnegan in their eyes and they were coming straight towards Naruto and Sakura.

Neither waited for the summoned creatures to reach them, Naruto called on Fukasaku and Shima, who leapt into the air, using a sage art attack known as Frog Song; when they opened their mouths, ringed sound waves came out, disrupting two of Pain's animals, the dog, and bull. While this happened, Sakura and Naruto charged forward. Sakura went ahead of Naruto to get to the Rhino as it came towards them.

"Eaqad Alriyah (wind hold)"

Swiping her spear a magic circle appeared above the rhino, when Sakura lifted her spear, pointing it up, the summoned creature was sent into the air.

Sitri's djinn equip was by far one of the more versatile of her djinn, she could control the wind currents in every possible manner and it had taken her a bit of practice, but she had come up with new techniques with the abilities her djinn had. That included levitation; she gathered wind currents, surrounded an object with it and was able to levitate it accordingly.

Then she drew back her spear, gathering power through the wind that began to fall in shape with her spear. Sakura then threw it and in a quick blur, pierced straight through the rhino summon and it vanished in a puff of white smoke in mid-air while it was falling.

"Nice!" Naruto praised. He didn't know who this girl was, but she was definitely stronger than he thought. He was still curious as to why he wasn't getting a chakra signal from her, of course, a battlefield was hardly the best place to get properly introduced.

Sakura was relieved when she heard Naruto couldn't sense her chakra signal; in her djinn equip.

While Naruto was behind her, he summoned two shadow clones, holding his hands out behind him, they started to create two Rasengan but they were larger than any of his previous ones. While Naruto and Sakura continued forward, they stayed behind and used the Rasengan to launch the other two summons into the air; after which the giant toads that Naruto came with took over battling them.

One of the other Pains started moving forward, drawing an iron rod from under his cloak. The Preta Path, Gakido; this Pain was able to absorb chakra and ninjutsu. Katsuyu, was resting on Naruto's shoulder, told him about the Pain's ability but he didn't stop charging forward.

That had both Naruto and Sakura smirking. For the same reason, although with different factoring.

"If I can't use ninjutsu, then we'll go with Frog Kumite!" Naruto said, rushing past Sakura, reaching the Gakido Pain first.

Naruto and Gakido started battling, Naruto was only using physical attacks to try and land a hit but the attacks were continuously evaded.

"All the Pains are visually linked," Katsuyu explained to Naruto; a blind-spot attack was useless when there were eyes watching them from every angle able to see where he was going to attack. Naruto's foot was caught when he leapt in the air to deliver a kick, he freed himself from Gakido's grasp and flipped back.

Once he landed on the ground, he smirked. "Then I'll show them an attack they can't see."

Naruto and Gakido were springing towards each other again; Naruto went into land a punch but once again the Preta Path Pain avoided it-or so he thought when the side of his face shifted like he had been hit and he ended up skidding across the ground.

It was astonishing when Sakura saw Naruto attack, she could see the nature energy around him form into a fist and come into contact with that Pain's face.

'He's definitely become so much stronger.' She thought smiling.

Frog Kumite, it was one of the sage techniques. Utilizing nature energy around a person. It becomes a part of their body when they attack, extending their range further than what anyone could see.

"No time to waste here, I'll finish this with my new jutsu!" Naruto made a single hand sign; that was all too familiar to Sakura. Naruto summoned two clones again as Sakura came to stand beside him; waiting patiently.

"I see, so you have become a sage," said Tendo. "Mastering the same jutsu as Jiraiya-sensei."

The fact that the leader of the Akatsuki referred to Jiraiya as his sensei had Naruto automatically on edge.

"Did you just call Jiraiya….sensei?"

"He was once my master, which would make us sibling disciples." He said. "Sharing the same master you and I should be able to understand each other. Our master desired peace-

"Shut up!" Naruto shouted, raising his arm into the air, a large mass of wind type chakra began to spin and form around a ball of light that looked like the Rassengan; it was beginning to look like a shuriken. Sakura had heard about Naruto's technique, it was the one he had developed under Kakashi's training but it was apparently still a dangerous technique. For both the user and the target.

Wind Style: Rasen Shuriken.

"What you've done here….Where's the 'peace' in that!?"

After forming the shuriken, the two clones of Naruto vanished. He needed two in order to create this technique.

"You're only looking at the tree, not the whole forest." Tendo Pain said to him. "You don't know the true meaning of peace. So let yourself be captured. Your death will lead to peace."

Naruto reeled back his hand, crouching slightly before unleashing his Rasen Shuriken. "I TOLD YOU TO SHUT UP."

The chakra flew towards the four Pains, Tendo and the Naraka Path, Jigokudo Pain already jumped into the air to avoid it while The Human Path, Ningendo Pain, grabbed onto Chikushodo and tossed her into the air before the attack came into contact but then Naruto's Rasen Shuriken expanded, trapping Ningendo. Sakura could only watch struck as Pain's body was quickly sliced into fragments so small you couldn't even see blood.

Chikushodo Pain slammed her hand on the ground, using a summoning jutsu again. From a giant puff of white smoke, a huge birth appeared and flew straight towards Naruto but he dodged and landed further away.

Looking back to the other summoning's, that the toads were taking care of, the other summoning's were eliminated but the dog was still there. Even after it was struck with a giant blade, all that happened was it split into a smaller part of two.

"Can you handle that?" Naruto asked, gesturing up towards the bird.

Sakura nodded.

Sakura left the ground once again, going after the bird summoned; she quickly caught its attention and it began flying after her. The two continued to maneuver through the air, Sakura flying further up with the creature in pursuit. She waited until they were passed the clouds and out of sight from the Pains and Naruto.

Down below, Naruto was clashing with Chikushodo; he could feel that he was reaching his limit for sage mode and he wasn't the only one. Pain also realized this.

"It seems your Sage jutsu is decreasing." Pain stated.

He was right and Naruto could feel it; he wanted to finish off one of the Pains before he went out of sage mode-preferably the one who could summon. Fukasaku had already thought of a plan to cut Pains line of vision. He had Shima use wind style: Sand dust, to create debris in the air; then he hurled the toad Gamabunta straight at Naruto and Chikushodo. The plan was to get Naruto and the other Pain in his mouth so that Naruto could defeat that Pain without the other's line of vision enabling him.

'This should be far enough.' Sakura thought looking around at the clear blue sky. She had gone far into the clouds, high above the village. She waited until she heard a shrill cry from the summoning animal and got ready for her offense.

Holding up her spear, a bright light was emitted from the blade. Drawing back her arm Sakura waited as the bird continued to fly straight towards her, it opened its large mouth as it drew near but still, Sakura did not move.

'Now!'

"YUNFAKH SHARIHA!" (Wind slice)

Then Sakura threw down her spear; a large white line of wind came forward then and sliced the creature in half. It vanished then into a puff of smoke.

Sakura let out a breath, softly panting. She held out her shaking hand and clenched it tightly.

'Better get back to Naruto."

Naruto managed to defeat the Animal Path Pain, there were only two more left but his sage mode had vanished after he attacked with his double Rassengan. Even though there were only two Pain's left, Naruto needed to replenish with nature energy again to go into sage mode in order to fight them. The problem with that was, to gather nature energy meant that the person had to remain stationary and that wasn't an option for Naruto. The usual process was to have one of the toads, Fukasaku or Shima attach themselves to the shoulder and gather the nature energy instead but Naruto found during his training that it wasn't possible because of the nine-tails that kept them from merging. Despite this, Naruto had come up with his own solution to this problem.

"You've exhausted your sage Jutsu." Pain observed, his voice unwavering as his face but he saw this as the opportunity that he would not allow to slip. "Now's my chance."

The Deva Path Pain went to attack Naruto immediately; the blonde adjusted his stance, he removed strap attached to the scroll on his back and ran off to the side. attempted to slow down Pain but he evaded the toad's attacks, determined to reach Naruto. Naruto needed to do a reverse summoning to bring back one of the two clones he had left on the Mountain.

His solution to replenishing for sage mode was to leave two clones behind and let them gather nature energy while he, the original fought and he would just use the reverse summoning to bring them to him. Once they vanished, Naruto would be replenished with nature energy. It was like looking left and right at the same time.

'I'm not going to be able to do this with him interfering though.' Naruto thought, blocking Pain's kick.

Fukasaku appeared behind Naruto and told him to throw him the scroll so that he could do it. Gamabunta attempted to help Naruto again but the boy told him to stay out of the way since he was going to enter sage mode soon and he didn't want him to get caught up in his attack.

Naruto and Pain were exchanging blows or at least attempting but both were on par when it came to taijutsu it seemed. Something came down from the sky, landing in between the two then, it was Sitri's spear, forcing Naruto and Pain to separate.

Pain looked up to the girl floating motionlessly above in the sky. Her enigmatic powers were cause for problems, he was certain of that.

Naruto was also looking at her now, "Hey don't come down here! I'm going into sage mode soon, you'll get caught up in the Rasenshurken!"

Although Naruto saw that she actually didn't make any move to lower herself further to the ground. Instead, she remained in the air. If she couldn't support Naruto from the ground, then she would simply do it from the sky. It was another development she had learned about Sitri's power. A djinn's metal vessels power could be harnessed in a variety of ways, that included weapons or bare hands. For Sitri the rule applied for both.

'Let's see how Pain deals with this.' Sakura raised her hand, holding up two fingers. Her spear began shifting out of the ground and into the air, it rotated several times before facing Pain directly with its blade. Using Eaqad Alriyah on her weapon, Sakura was able to control her spear from a distance with the wind currents.

Sakura flicked her fingers forward and the spear followed, in turn, the direction she pointed. Pain evaded the quick spear before it struck him but it continued to follow after him. It was swinging wildly at him as if it had no direction and yet it was clear what it was aiming for. He couldn't get to Naruto like this.

"Wow…" Naruto couldn't help but stare at the girl's unique ability; it was unlike anything he had seen so far and it made him even more curious about her identity.

Tendo Pain glanced up at the sky to the girl maneuvering her hand around like a maestro, directing the spear at him. She barely moved her arm, flicking her wrist around.

'She's going to be a problem at this rate.' Pain thought as he continued to evade her attacks from her spear.

While Pain was distracted, Fukasaku summoned Naruto's clone through the scroll and told Naruto to release the technique in order to gain its nature energy and activate Sage Mode once again. He didn't waste any time. Naruto's clone vanished and the boy resumed sage mode, his eyes changing from blue to orange with the rims around it.

Sakura kept her attack going, pushing Pain further back but he continued to doge. 'Let's see how he handles this.'

With a snap of her fingers, Sakura's spear started to spin wildly creating a cyclone that covered the entire weapon. She then pointed forward and it went straight at Pain with blinding speed; this time managing to make contact; although it was only a graze as he sidestepped, even so, he was blown back with just that much and sent skidding across the grounds.

"Alright!" Naruto smirked. He summoned two clones again and raised his hand into the air. The Rasen shuriken made a reappearance. When Sakura saw that Naruto was ready to fight again, she turned her palm facing up and flicked her wrist forward, bringing her spear back to her. While she did that, Naruto launched his Rasen Shuriken straight at Pain.

"NOW I GOT YOU."

For a moment, it really did look like Naruto was going to take out another Pain, but then a second one appeared in front of him. It was Gakido (Preta path); the one with the ability to absorb ninjutsu and also one of the Pains Naruto had taken down before. He held out his hands in front of him as the chakra shuriken came his way without flinching; once it reached him, there was no impact of any sort and no expansion like the last time. The Rasen shuriken started to grow smaller, as the Gakido Pain absorbed it.

'Crap.'

Sakura landed beside the three Naruto's, appearing docile now.

"I forgot that one can absorb ninjutsu." Naruto hissed; he could only use two Rasen Shuriken at a time in Sage mode and his first one was just wasted.

"But didn't we take care of him already?" asked Naruto's clone.

Naruto and Sakura looked around for the other Pain since there were three now. This Pain was Jigokudo, The Narka Path. He was standing beside something; what looked like a giant head but it didn't quite resemble a human, it had the Rennegan; its mouth was open wide as if its jaw was unhinged and the tip of its purple tongue resembled hands.

Sakura shivered uncomfortably at the sight of it.

"What is that?" Naruto turned to Katsuyu on his shoulder.

"It looks like that one is the key," Katsuyu said. "He can revive the other Pains."

'Joy…' Sakura thought sarcastically.

Naruto remembered that there was a mention about the Pains being able to bring themselves back to life. It must be that one who does it.

The Jigokudo would summon The King of Hell, which could revive the other Pains. All by placing them in its mouth and when they came back out, they were alive and well. It made sense why he was the one kept furthest back in the Pains previous formation.

"And the real trouble is the one on the left," Katsuyu said, gesturing to the Tendo Pain whose abilities Naruto and Sakura were yet to see. "He can both repel any attack and pull any objects towards himself. What's strange is he hasn't shown his power yet."

The Jigokudo Pain jumped back to the other two Pains, taking his formation in the back.

"I need to get rid of that one, that way the others can't be revived," Naruto said, staring hard at the three Pains. "I have to cut off their sight to each other though."

Sakura tapped Naruto's arm, causing him to turn directly to her. "Mm?"

She pointed to herself, then over to the Pains and Naruto tilted his head to the side attempting to figure out what she was saying. "You want to deal with him?"

She nodded.

It was obvious to her that Naruto's Sage Mode had its drawbacks, one of them was the period of time he was able to use it. She didn't' want him to exert too much energy and overdo it as usual. She could help him in this matter and she was going to do that.

"How though?" Naruto asked.

She put a finger at the bottom of her mask where her mouth was and although he couldn't see it, Naruto had a feeling that this girl was smiling.

"Alright, I'll trust you but follow after me, I'll distract them." Naruto waited for her to nod.

Again, holding up his hand, Naruto started to summon a Rasen Shuriken but he didn't stop there. "Let's add some smoke bombs."

One of his clones threw down three round smoke bombs; creating a fog of red. None of the Pains were able to see Naruto or Sakura in the mist, but their focus was soon drawn to the Rasen shuriken that came out of it.

Gakido immediately stood in front of the other Pains, attempting to absorb the ninjutsu like before, only there was something wrong with this attack. He soon found out what, when it transformed into Naruto who then tackled him to the ground.

"You're the original!?"

Another Rasenshuriken emerged from the smoke and headed straight towards the other Pain and Naruto was sure he had him this time. However just as the attack was about to hit Tendo Pain-it vanished. Literally. While the Akatsuki leader stood unharmed.

"It looks like my power has finally returned."

Naruto glared up at Pain but then covered Gakido's eyes to create a blind spot.

"I'm not done yet!"

From behind the third Pain, Jigokudo, Sakura began to materialize; before either could look back, Sakura thrust her spear forward, gathering water at the end as she landed her attack from behind. On impact, her spear went straight through and the water expanded, breaking material, skin, and tissue, effectively defeating the Jigokudo Pain.

"What?!"

Using Gaap's ability to turn herself invisible. When Naruto had thrown the smoke bombs Sakura immediately took the chance to transform into her water djinn's equip. She turned herself invisible and then flew up behind Pain.

Sakura smirked, 'That's two down.'

Now there was just one more to go. Sakura saw the way he repelled Naruto's attack and he was the one responsible for the destruction of the entire village. They were going to have to be very careful now, if not at least quick in ending the battle.

'One more to go!'

"Let's go!" Naruto called Sakura. "Together!"

While the original Naruto went to finish off the Gakido Pain he had tackled to the ground; Sakura and his clone all then went for the last Pain standing at the same time but before they could even make contact; Pain held out his arms….

"Shinra Tensei!"

It happened in an instant. There was an indescribable force, pushing all of them back with but to Pain, it seemed like effort equivalent to swatting a fly. Sakura and Naruto were sent flying in opposite directions; skidding across the floors, scraping until they finally halted a distance away from each other and the two Pains.

'The hell…' Sakura grunted in pain, the side of her mask cracking slightly. She looked over on the other side of the crater until she caught sight of Naruto with Fukasaku and Shema next to him.

Naruto was informed that this technique that Tendo Pain used was the same one that destroyed the village. Katsuyu told him that depending on the amount of chakra used, would increase the interval before he could use that technique again. Which explained why he hasn't been fighting until now.

"Ninjutsu and taijutsu are useless against that attack,"

"I was told that there is a five-second interval at the least between his technique," Katsuyu said.

Fukasaku interrupted, "Well use genjutsu then."

The three summoned Toads were attempting to take down the two Pains together but using the same technique used on Naruto and Sakura, all three humungous toads were sent flying in the air; far back, beyond the crater and perhaps beyond the outskirts of the village.

Sakura started to carefully gather herself from the ground, using her spear to support most of her weight. She was awestruck witnessing that attack, clearly, this Pain was going to be the most troublesome to defeat, especially with that ability of his to repel or pull anything. That was the technique he used to destroy the village; that she was certain of. It made her all the more eager to finish this fight right now.

With her extreme magic.

Taking off from the ground and into the air, Sakura got a clear view of the two Pains, Naruto, Shima, and Fukasaku. Sakura had a quick glance around the rest of the village, to see if there was anyone near the clearing and she saw a few but from the distance, it was impossible to make them out and identify.

'I'll finish this fight in one move.'

Naruto was looking up at the girl; she was holding her spear in front of her but other than that, she was completely stationary.

"What is she doing?" Naruto asked softly but he didn't get a reply from Fukasaku or Shima as they were preparing to activate genjutsu, it would have Tendo Pain immobilized for a short time which would allow Naruto to strike. Although right now he was more interested in seeing what this enigmatic girl was going to do next.

A bright light expanded from behind her, it great bigger until she was in the center of a circle with an eight-pointed star. Above him, the clouds started moving towards her and becoming water; it didn't look like it was going to stop either.

"Whoah!"

The two Pain's stared up at the metal vessel user, not knowing what exactly to make of this power except for the fact that it was troublesome for them. She was interjecting in their capture of the Kyuubi.

Pain started raising his hand….

Sakura was gathering water from the clouds to aid in her attack, it would take a bit more time but she would have more magoi to activate her extreme magic. She wanted to finish this before Pain came with any more unexpected surprises.

'What's worse…the real's ones still…' Sakura stopped her thoughts; she would figure something out in finding the real Pain, the ones that they were fighting were just corpses. 'I'll find him somehow. Definitely.'

She was certain that with her rage towards the real Pain, she was going to find him.

'Pain…no Nagato.'

Sakura raised her spear above her head, ready to bring down everything she had on the Pains. The water from above gathered and began to morph to her wishes.

"MA'AN DAWAMA TA-

The magic circle vanished and Sakura felt like she was being pulled down hard and fast; she hit the ground with such force that it shattered and cracked beneath her. For a moment she felt nothing and then the pain washed over her all at once from being slammed down from her height to the ground. There was no doubt blood running along her face and body but she just couldn't place exactly where the wounds were. There was a metallic taste in her mouth that went down her throat and making her choke; her ears were ringing and darkness was beginning to cloud her vision, but she attempted to fight it off.

"I've had quite enough of you." Pain said, looking down at the battered girl. "You're strong, but this is the end."

"You…." Sakura coughed, splattering blood through the opening of her mask that had been cracked. "Damn you…"

"So you can speak," Tendo observed.

Sakura felt her lungs burning from the strain of simply breathing and yet she continued to force herself to speak. "You-you think doing this…will accomplish anything?"

"It will accomplish peace." Pain stated.

The girl chuckled painfully, "Peace….there is no peace for what you are attempting to do…..by bringing that thing back….."

Pain narrowed his eyes, catching hold of the girl's word despite that it was as soft as a light breeze. "What?"

"He's….He's….using you…" Sakura wheezed, "You're-You're ambitions are nothing to him...Those tailed beasts….will-will become…"

There was a brief pause of everything; a few moments later Pain spoke once again but not before drawing a black rod, peaking from his Akatsuki cloak.

"It seems that you still don't understand…true pain…I'll show you."

"STOP IT," Naruto shouted, breaking into a sprint towards the two Pains and Sakura. Pain's attention was then diverted back to Naruto.

"If you're so eager," Pain held out his hand, his palm facing Naruto. "Banshou Ten'in"

Naruto's feet left the ground, but he was still going forward towards Pain, the only problem was he had no control of his motion. The Gakido Pain then gave a powerful strike to Naruto's stomach before putting his arms under Naruto's and pulling the boy back in a stranglehold.

"Don't worry I won't kill you. You're my precious Jinchuuriki after all."

Naruto scoffed, smirking, "Don't take my Sage Mode lightly, this time I'll-

He stopped himself, Naruto noticed that he was beginning to feel weaker by the second. His Sage Mode was drawing out sooner than it was meant to. It clicked when Naruto realized which Pain's hold he was in. The one who could absorb ninjutsu and chakra. He was apparently also now drawing Naruto's nature energy, which would, in turn, deactivate Sage mode.

Pain watched as Naruto grew lax, "The capture of the Kyuubi, is complete."

Sakura stared up at the three, "N-Naruto…"

Naruto opened one of his eyes, glancing at the girl. "Hey, …you can speak…"

"You're both persistent aren't you?" Pain asked, still looking at Naruto.

While Naruto was still, feeling his energy being drained, he came to a realization of what this would entail if he was smart about it. So while he was immobilized, Naruto began gathering nature energy from around him, without any of the Pain's knowledge. Sakura, on the other hand, could barely see it through her djinn's eye, the way this unshaped blue light started to grow around Naruto and then decrease until it was completely gone. When Naruto opened his eyes again, they were back to its regular blue.

'What did he just do?' she wondered.

However, Sakura saw something interesting happening to the Pain holding Naruto, first, his arms began to expand and swell, with bumps and then his face followed, it morphed until it resembled a frog or toad. That was the consequence of harnessing nature energy; if you couldn't control it properly, then you'd end up turning into a frog.

"Nature energy is one of a thing to control." Naruto boasted as Pains skin turned green and he became petrified into stone, unable to move. Naruto quickly broke free from the hold but landed kneeling on the ground because of the exhaustion of having his power drained.

He glanced over in Sakura's direction. "Hey…"

"He-Hey…"

"You don't have to fight anymore," Naruto said, panting softly. "He's the only one left."

Pain interjected then, "I wouldn't be so sure about that."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked as he stood up slowly, feeling like his knees wanted to cave in.

Katsuyu slithered out of Naruto's jacket and onto his shoulder; she informed him that all of the Pains that they were fighting were merely puppets and that the real one wasn't there.

At that second, Fukasaku and Shima were finished preparing to launch the genjutsu, they both held out their webbed hands, directing it at the last Pain. "Alright, here we go!"

However, Tendo Pain then pointed his hand towards them and used his ability to draw in Fukasaku towards him; he held out the black rod that he meant to use on Sakura and pointed it forward, impaling the toad. When Naruto tried to make a grab for him, Pain flicked Fukasaku off of the rod and Naruto caught him, but that was only meant to distract the blonde for a five-second interval before he then used Banshou Ten'in to draw Naruto forward. Pain grabbed the boy by his neck, slammed him into the ground before impaling both of Naruto's hands on top of each other with the black rod (receiver).

Naruto stilled, as he saw a pair of Rennegan eyes flash in his mind when he looked back to reality, Pain was crouching in front of him. "Have you calmed down now, Kyuubi?"

Naruto glared at him, "Why?! Who are you!? Why are you doing this!?"

Pain narrowed his eyes at Naruto, "Why you ask? It wouldn't matter if I told you. But, perhaps if I choose my words with care, you'll grasp it a little….My goal is to do what Jiraiya-sensei could not. I'll bring forth peace and justice."

Naruto glared at Pain, "Peace and justice…don't fuck with me. You killed my teacher, my master, hurt my friends and destroyed my village!"

"What is your goal then?" Pain asked Naruto stoically.

"I'm going to crush you and bring peace to the world of shinobi!" Naruto proclaimed.

Pain stood up and walked around Naruto, "That's splendid. It's the epitome of justice. Nevertheless, what about my family, my friends my village? Does Konoha alone have the right to proclaim peace and justice, after inflicting this very destruction on my village?"

"What do you mean?"

Pain spoke of a war period between all of the great nations to protect their own interests and secure their own gains. Although it was his country, The Hidden Rain village that was invaded and the battleground as it stood between the great nations. Pain told them that even after the great nations stabilized, his village still suffered, 'left with a pain that was out of this world.' After Pain's short speech, Naruto seemed to become more docile; thinking through what he had been told.

"You and I are no different from each other." Pain stated. "We are simply driven by our own sense of justice. You're trying to do the same to me as I did to Konoha. The pain of loss is the same for all of us. We are ordinary humans, driven by revenge in the name of justice. However, if we disguise our revenge by words of justice, this 'justice' grows and gives birth to revenge and thus the chain of hatred begins."

Naruto and Sakura were silent, for what Pain said triggered something in both of them to think about, Sakura thought carefully of Pains description of justice and revenge.

"By living through these events, by knowing the past we can look to the future. That is what we know as history and from it, we learn that humans are incapable of understanding each other!"

Sakura closed her eyes; taking herself back to the first time to she met Sinbad. What he said; that captured her interest and attention. There was something about this conversation that greatly disturbed Sakura; Pain claimed to have the goal to bring peace to this world and yet it didn't sit well with her.

" _I know what I am aiming for…; a place where people work together in a world like this…That is why I will connect all the countries and create one country!_

…

" _Right now humans around the world are beginning to conquer dungeons and gain power. That power will eventually destroy the balance of the world and cause chaos…_

…

 _"I do not want war. On contrary, I want to change this world that is full of war and make a world in which countries and people are accepted."_

Sakura carefully attempted to stand again, her knees shaking but she pushed herself up, a part of her mask cracked further from the bottom, falling and exposing most of her mouth now.

"You can't do it."

Naruto and Pain looked back to Sakura as she struggled to bring her spear up, "You…you can't bring peace to this world….You will create chaos-not peace and chaos cannot be controlled. Once it spreads all order and intention are lost and the outcome cannot be predicted!"

Pain remained passive, "Then to create peace, how would you face this hatred?"

Naruto looked down, silent for less than a minute but truly listening "I….don't know how."

Then Pain turned around to Sakura, "And you? What is your reasoning? Why are you trying so hard to prevent this? You sounded like you knew a lot. How would you bring peace to this world?

Sakura glared at Pain through her mask, "Peace is like power, it is always fleeting but that doesn't mean it is not possible to grasp. But that usually has a lot to do with destiny; for the ones who are meant to bring peace." Sakura looked at Naruto and then back to Pain. "You are right in a way about pain but I don't think that it is a way for humans to understand each other or bring peace. It merely creates that illusion for them, due to their own arrogance in believing that they would ever be able to truly understand someone but that is only my opinion, not true fact-the same as you…You want to change this world for the better, you want to bring about peace, but YOU cannot do it."

"Why do you say that?" asked Pain.

"Because you are attempting to use darkness to drive out darkness!" Gripping her spear tightly, Sakura launched herself forward, about to attack again. "And that isn't a way to change anything! I am not looking to bring peace to this world; I am going to change my world!"

Before Sakura was able to strike down Pain, he avoided the attack at a seconds notice and hold out his hand towards Sakura. "Shinrai Tensei."

This push had been especially powerful it seemed, the way Sakura was driven back by the force, even while she was in the air, her body felt heavy. Even when she crashed into the rocks, the jagged ends sinking into her skin, she could still feel the force pushing her further back. Coughing up blood as the air left her lungs, Sakura wheezed from the burning sensation in her body.

"In the end, it seems that you still don't understand true pain."

Naruto watched with wide eyes, immobile as he drew out an iron rod and threw it at Sakura; it pierced through her skin in her right hand, he then threw another into her left, then into her thighs, and another two in her arms.

Those iron rods were known as Black receivers that transmitted chakra receivers. As a weapon, once embedded in an enemy the user can transmit their chakra into them, hindering their movements if pierced with only one receiver and completely paralyzing them if pierced through pressure points. However, with Sakura, Pain could no longer feel his chakra transmitting through the rods. It was as if it was being blocked.

"What is she?" he asked. Glancing at her weapon that laid on the ground and picked it up before directing it at Sakura.

"STOP IT," Naruto screamed, watching as Pain steadied his aim before he allowed his grip to loosen, the spear started heading straight for Sakura.

"LOOK OUT."

Before Gaap's djinn weapon reached her, she released her djinn equip, realizing the damage if she didn't. She still wore her mask and accounting for a situation like this, Sakura's form was also hidden by a dark cloak, the hood over her face and hair, keeping her identity well hidden.

'Thank goodness….I made it…' Sakura gasped.

 _"MY KING!" Beleth, Stolas, Orias, Gaap, and Sitri called out in the girl's mind._

In that instant, the release of her djinn equip seemed to also put a stop to Pain's attack as the dagger dropped right in front of her.

"A very interesting ability you have." Pain observed.

Sakura grunted softly, she could barely feel anything anymore and that was not a good sign. Blackness clouded her vision and she couldn't' hear Naruto calling out to her anymore as she slipped away from reality. The last thing she saw was Naruto, watching her with worried eyes.

'Naruto please…don't…don't look at me…like that.'


	19. The Past: Fighting Pain part2

_She couldn't feel a thing. It wasn't hot nor cold; just an emptiness all around her. Her body refused to move. She couldn't remember how she came to this state, but fear wouldn't touch her; as she attempted to sharpen her hearing._

 _.._

 _.._

 _.._

 _.._

" _Don't…."_

…

 _.._

 _.._

 _.._

" _You cannot…_

 _.._

 _.._

 _.._

 _.._

" _Don't die,"_

 _.._

 _.._

 _.._

 _.._

 _.._

" _Still….strong…"_

…

 _.._

 _.._

 _.._

 _.._

"… _..fight…."_

 _When Sakura opened her eyes, she found herself lying down with her arms spread, surrounded by nothing but an endless space of white. But she heard something, someone, a voice that was coming out like broken receive. In bits and pieces, she couldn't entirely make out what she was hearing. Her vision was clear, but it could only see one thing._

' _Where am I?'_

 _She felt like she couldn't breathe, as if there was a weight pressing on her chest and when she opened her mouth, it moved but no words came out and she couldn't hear her own voice._

' _What's happening?'_

" _Get up…."_

 _Sakura didn't move listening to the soft voice calling out, echoing gently through this unknown space._

" _Don't give up."_

' _Who are you?' Sakura thought, unable to voice it._

" _Don't surrender."_

' _What do you want?'_

" _Wake up, Sakura….."_

' _How….how do you know….?'_

" _Not yet…do not die."_

 _Then she remembered; her world, her fight with the Akatsuki, Naruto, the receivers piercing her body. Was that why she couldn't even move in her dreams? Was this all she could do with her new power? Was she so weak that she couldn't even utilize the power meant for a king?_

' _Am I that unworthy?'_

" _Get up Sakura"_

' _I-I can't,' she thought, attempting to move her body but the invisible weight she felt on her body made it impossible._

" _You can….Fight."_

 _Sakura felt like she was ready to cry as grief overcame her, fear filling her. 'I can't do it.'_

" _You can…..remember….." the voice was soft, yet so firm, a securing warmth._

' _I'm weak…..'_

 _The voice automatically replied, with an unwavering tone that would have shaken Sakura had she been able to move._

" _You are strong…..You are a fighter…Remember your strength….."_

 _Sakura felt her fingers twitch, her heartbeat rapidly increasing in her chest, hitting her ribcage painfully and yet it told her she was still alive. She was beginning to feel again. And there was something, urging her to move, to fight. She could hear the fluttering of the rukh, it was getting closer as she began to feel her breathing return, her chest growing lighter._

" _Get up Sakura,"_

 _She smiled,_

" _Okay."_

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

Slowly she started opening her eyes and painfully lifted her neck; still pinned to the rocks. Her body feeling heavy all over again. She felt like her lungs were going to collapse. When her vision sharpened, Sakura saw Hinata and she was fighting against Pain. Despite the wounds, she had received and the blood running down her face, Hinata continued to attack Pain with a fierce expression that Sakura rarely saw from the kind-hearted girl. Her hands were blazing blue with her chakra in the shape of lion heads.

Although Hinata was clearly putting in everything she had into this fight; she could not land a hit on Pain as he continued to evade the attacks. Naruto was watching, worried about the girl's safety but she persisted and would not leave him be.

When Pain moved back, instead of going after him, Hinata moved to Naruto. She effectively managed to remove one of the black receivers that were embedded in him and was about to strike another when Pain intervened. He sent Hinata into the air and watched as she crashed to the ground, a very heavy fall.

"HINATA." Sakura and Naruto screamed simultaneously.

After a brief blackout, Hinata opened her eyes and started to move to stand up once again despite her pain, pushing past it.

She knew she couldn't win, Sakura was certain Hinata knew that and yet she was still moving forward. Pushing forward, pushing past her pain…

" _This is absurd, why would she do something like this?" asked Sitri_

Sakura could only reach on obvious conclusion; there was only one thing that would make someone loyal enough to put their life-not to sacrifice their life for someone else.

"Because…she loves him." Sakura breathed softly.

Hinata limped to Naruto and when she found she could no longer walk, she started dragging herself towards him. Despite Naruto's pleas for her not to come any closer, the agony it was to watch her put herself on the line like this for him; it hurt. But Hinata didn't stop.

"Stop it Hinata…..Don't come any closer." Naruto begged turning away, unable to look at the girl without feeling a wretched pain in his gut.

'She knows she doesn't have the power to win…..yet….she's so determined,' Sakura thought watching Hinata as she continued to drag herself towards Naruto. Hinata had always seemed like such a gentle person, a passive girl with a good heart. Despite her Hyuga heritage, she hardly gave the impression of someone meant to take the path of a ninja. But she had her moments that showed everyone otherwise.

This was one of those moments.

'She's so strong….'

When Hinata finally reached Naruto, she put both of her hands around the iron rod in his hands attempting to pull it out.

"I don't get it…" said Pain. "Even when you're this weak; why do you still oppose me?"

"I will never go back on my word!" Hinata exclaimed strongly; she looked up, meeting Naruto's shocked expression. She smiled. "Because…That's my ninja way."

Sakura and Naruto watched in horror as Hinata was forcefully sent into the air again by Pain and then brought back down with a heavy force that crushed the ground beneath her. Before the debris even cleared, Pain brought out another rod and stabbed Hinata. Naruto couldn't bring himself to blink, his eyes as wide as they could go, watching red seep from the rocks where Hinata laid.

"Love gives birth to sacrifice, which brings forth hatred...and lets you know pain,"

At that moment, something in Naruto snapped and his rage overtook him entirely, his body, heart, and mind completely wrapped in darkness and Sakura felt a sinisterly powerful chakra and saw it as well. A dark line of red shot into the sky, causing the earth to tremble and a large shockwave to expand across the entire area. Everyone who was watching the battle from a distance could even feel its power.

'Naruto…no!' Sakura grimaced, feeling the wind blowing heavily through her mask.

The Kyuubi's power was responding to Naruto's overwhelming rage and Sakura feared the worst, for Naruto, had no control when he became like this. It was truly dangerous as he lost his senses to distinguish friend from foe. Naruto stood up in the red haze, the rods were destroyed and Naruto began to transform. His entire body turned red, wrapped in the nine-tails chakra cloak with four tails appearing.

'I have to do something now!' Sakura looked at Hinata lying unconscious on the ground. If this got out of hand, without a doubt it would be dangerous for her and anyone near! The very ground became uprooted. There were rocks crumbling from boulders and turning into pebbles with the way Pain and Naruto was now clashing, complete disregard for everything around them. The sky started to blacken, as something emerged from it, in red and then turning to white. A bone-like structure started to attach itself to Naruto's chakra cloak that resembled a fox; the tails split.

In his out of control state, Naruto went to attack Pain with power that shook everything around them.

Sakura couldn't take anymore and quickly called her djinn. "Beleth!"

The black rods became caught in Beleth's flames and began to turn into ash, when Sakura was free of them she pushed herself forward and fell; she gathered Gaap's metal vessel and placed it in the sheath. Looking back to the battle, her ears were ringing from the screams of destruction before her. Looking about rapidly, she saw Hinata a little ways from Naruto and Pain as their battle started to take them a distance. Her first priority was to get her out of there before she was caught in the crossfire.

As quickly as she could, Sakura worked to close the wounds from the rods; she didn't properly treat them as she was pressed for time. Pain had caused a gust of water from the earth to erupt and wash back Naruto before he followed after him with blinding speeds.

"DJINN OF STRENGTH AND DISCORD DWELL IN MY BODY-BELETH."

Sakura felt a new course of power run through her as she transformed again. Engulfed in the warm, protective flames of her djinn and emerging in her djinn equip. Her third eye visible through the mask, long a reddish-gray hair, there were two horns; bat-likes wings on her back; her clothes she wore changed into a black dress that tied from behind her neck was cut off in the center in a diamond showing off the of her chest and stomach, then it closed and fell down in three parts of material all the way down revealing her legs that were now kept in long silver boots.

While Naruto and Pain occupied each other, Sakura flew over to Hinata. She was lying unconscious on a piece of ground that hadn't been engulfed with the underground water, had that happened she would've washed away and drowned. Landing beside her, Sakura held back her tears as she looked at the battered girl.

'Hinata, you fought bravely.'

As gently as possible, mindful of all her injuries she probably sustained, internal and external; Sakura started took to the sky quickly. She stopped when she was high enough to overlook most of the village, searching amongst the rubble. It was difficult to do anything in the chaos.

'I'll be back Naruto,'

* * *

Sakura continued to fly through the sky for a while, checking carefully until she spotted a few of her comrades and friends gathered together. There was Shikamaru, Shiho, Ino, her father Inoichi, Shikamaru's father Shikaku and a masked anbu, there was also a clone of Katsuyu. Sakura landed immediately when she caught sight of Ino.

Startled by her sudden appearance, everyone pulled back. Inoichi, Shikaku and the anbu drew their kunai.

"What the…?" Shikamaru trailed, with wide eyes.

"Who are you!?" asked Inoichi.

Sakura gave them no response. She simply turned to Ino and placed Hinata on the ground near her.

"Hinata!" Ino gasped, rushing to the Hyuga girl; she immediately started to work on healing her.

"What happened?" asked Shikamaru, crouching forward. He broke his leg during the attack so he couldn't move well.

"She protected Naruto before falling in battle." Katsuyu's clone said to them. "And this girl, she's been fighting with Naruto against the Pain's."

"You mean she's an ally?" asked Inoichi.

Shikamaru frowned, starring at the half-broken mask obscuring the girl's identity. "That mask….are you..?"

Sakura intended on leaving straight after she placed Hinata down but then something in the back on top of the rubble caught her attention. It was Shizune, lying on the ground at first she assumed the women were simply injured, unconscious because of it but looking closer Sakura realized that was not the case. Her skin was pale and she showed no signs of movement or breathing.

'Shizune…' Sakura clenched her fists, tears streaming down her face and falling from her mask, her shoulders shook in rage and sadness and she let out a choked sob.

Everyone looked at Sakura, wondering why exactly she was crying.

Shikamaru narrowed his eyes; something clicked in his mind. First was the fact that she brought Hinata to them and second, her reaction to Shizune which gave him one questioning thought.

'Does she know…?'

Turning back around, Sakura looked out into the distance. Naruto and Pain seemed to have gotten away from the village and into the forest, for she could see the eruptions from this distance. There was no time to waste.

Pushing back on her heels, Sakura took off to the sky again and flew towards the battlefield where Naruto and Pain were going to be.

'I have to keep moving forward.'

* * *

It shook Sakura to the core with what she was seeing when she flew through the skies. Despite being air born, she could imagine vividly what it might feel like to be on the ground right now as she made her way through the battered forest, following the trail left by Pain and Naruto. Although the huge mark was the giant sphere in the sky that was continuously gathering the ground and floating to join in and create a huge planetoid.

This was another jutsu of Pain's she was certain of that and by the looks of it; his trump card of sorts. Sakura continued to fly further up until she was right above it. Looking around; she spotted Pain a distance but Naruto was nowhere to be seen.

'Unless…' A thought occurred as she looked down.

A powerful red line of chakra broke through from the inside and Sakura recognized this as the Kyuubi's power; seven more of those red lines followed and Sakura realized that it was tails. When she looked again, something started breaking through the rock that was continuously gathering. It resembled a fox, but there was no skin on it, flesh and bone were visible but it was very close to one. At least to the point where she could identify it.

'Naruto…what's happening inside of you?' Sakura thought dreadfully, 'Are you being consumed by your own hatred now…your own darkness?'

Then a thought occurred to her. Sakura took a long look at her talon hand flexing it several times. She remembered when Ja'far had lost control of himself when he had become a monster born of his own darkness that fed off his sorrows. This situation didn't seem that different. She remembered how Ja'far had almost fallen and she remembered how they brought him back. Sakura remembered how she and Sinbad brought Ja'far back.

'If I can do the same to Naruto….'

Closing her eyes, Sakura murmured, "Kahlif Nar"

Dark flames covered Sakura's entire body, setting her ablaze and yet she did not feel its heat and it did not hurt her. She was going to get through to Naruto. She didn't know if it would work, but she knew that there was no time to think; not a second to spare. For that would be the fine line between savior and ruin.

Pain caught the side of something dark, gliding through the air at a sharp speed. The girl in the cat mask, only she was in another form again. 'Her again. When does her power reach its limit?' he thought annoyed. It had already taken a lot out of him to use this jutsu and now she was still a factor?

'She's troublesome.' Pain was about to direct an attack at her but then he noticed that she wasn't going for him. Her objective seemed to be Naruto as she circled around the planetoid and headed straight for the Kyuubi body that was beginning to form.

Sakura was now facing to face with the creature, she drew a breath before calling out. "NARUTO, WAKE UP."

The fox screeched at her then, opening its mouth it drew out a large breath of fire towards Sakura. The flames clashed with her own. Some of the rocks that were still reaching towards the huge sphere was sent flying back, lit from the fires of the fox but when it stopped. Sakura still stood. Wrapped in her own flames.

"COME ON NARUTO." Sakura cried out, pulling back her arm, holding her talons together. Then she flew forward quickly, never stopping, not allowing her fear to cloud her mind as she reached towards the beast. Reaching its head, she held out her hand, her sharp claws facing forward to its target.

"WAKE UP."

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

She felt herself falling, darkness clouded her vision and she didn't know left from right what's wore she was still falling. This was the inside of Naruto? Was it really? She couldn't believe it though. That he would have this kind of darkness within him. Yet she knew there was no mistaking. Despite her falling so effortlessly, everything around her felt thick and suffocating. Her senses were nearly completely cut but she could still feel herself in Beleth's djinn equip, wearing her mask as well.

" _It would seem we're still passing through that creature, your companion is further." Beleth's voice rang inside of her head. "Be cautious my king"_

Then Sakura heard voices. There were different ones but she couldn't make out anything that was being said, it was like hearing but not listening.

Sakura's vision was clouded again, by a bright light that forced her to close her eyes, but when she opened them again, she was standing but when she looked down there was nothing but white surrounding her. Blossoms falling from nothing and floating into nothing.

'Where the….?'

She heard the voices again, they were becoming clearer now. Looking in the distance, Sakura saw two figures standing. Cautiously she began to move closer; when they became more visible, Sakura could identify one of them as Naruto but the other….no-yes…..it was someone she recognized….just not someone she 'knew'.

There was Naruto, standing a distance away from an older male with spiky blonde hair like Naruto's only styled slightly different and longer, but he also had the same blue eyes as Naruto. Although; there was also his ninja attire and the white cloak he wore. The ones the Hokage of the Hidden Leaf would wear.

'Minato…..Uzumaki.'

He was the Fourth Hokage of the village and also…Naruto's father. Something told Sakura that Naruto knew this as well; it became that much clearer when Naruto suddenly punched Minato in his stomach while sobbing.

"How the hell could you seal the Kyuubi inside your own son!?" Naruto cried, literally. "I've been through hell and back because of it!"

Sakura listened, keeping her presence hidden while Naruto continued to scream at his father about how much he had suffered through because of the Kyuubi sealed inside of him. Describing the expressions he would get about everyone who knew about the attack those years ago and how he didn't make friends for a long time. And how hard he had to work to get acknowledged by everyone. He told Minato how he met all of his sensei's and became even stronger because of them. Naruto spoke of how he was the target for the Akatsuki and had to train even harder.

By this time, Naruto was completely frustrated. "By the time I finally got strong enough, my friends were all done in by the Akatsuki! But I-But I-DAMN. I don't know if I'm pissed off or happy anymore!"

Her heart clenched as she watched Naruto cry; Sakura knew of his difficulties and hardships and knowing exactly how he got there as well. She knew the beginning better than he did and yet she realized that she did not truly understand; the kind of suffering Naruto endured. Not until she saw him now, crying out in front of his father.

'I'm sorry, Naruto.' She thought, watching from a distance.

"You've been through a lot Naruto. I'm sorry" Minato said sincerely. "As the one responsible for making you go through all of that, it may be wrong for me to act fatherly and apologize."

Naruto wiped away his tears, "Not its fine; I'm the son of the Fourth Hokage, I can handle it."

Minato smiled, "The only reason I sealed half of the Kyuubi's power inside of you, was because I believed you could utilize it. After all, you are my son." Then, Minato's expression turned serious. "There is a reason I had to do this. When the Kyuubi attacked the village, I discovered something. There was someone behind the scenes who manipulated the Kyuubi."

Naruto's eyes widened, "Behind the scenes?"

"It was a shinobi who possessed a considerable amount of chakra. Without some sort of special power, it would be impossible to fight him. He's likely planning to attack the village again."

Sakura didn't even realize she had drawn a breath and held it as Minato spoke to Naruto

"Yeah but, Konoha's already destroyed…" Naruto said lowering his gaze.

"I know, I saw it all through you," Minato admitted.

"You-You saw it?" Naruto asked and Minato confirmed again. "Then was Pain the one who had the Kyuubi attack the village?"

"No," Minato said, surely. "It was a masked member of the Akatsuki,"

Sakura knew that it wasn't Pain who manipulated the nine-tails. She had seen the attack on the village all those years ago, she was barely a few months old when it happened but Yunan was there and he had seen and heard everything that night. The person was hiding behind two identities. The first was what he was known by in the Akatsuki and the second was the one who he claimed as his true identity.

'But I know it isn't.'

Minato told Naruto that Pain was probably being used by that person as well; although Naruto tried to deny it.

"Pain has his own grudge against Konoha." Naruto pointed out.

"That is exactly why he is being used." Minato pointed.

"But how came someone that powerful be used?" Naruto asked, not fully understanding.

Minato diverted his eyes, "Within the world's system of shinobi, it lacks a certain order of peace. Pain asked you about peace but finding an answer isn't easy. In trying to save someone precious, conflict is born. As long as love exists so will hatred."

Sakura closed her eyes, becoming consumed by the memories of the past that were triggered by that statement of love baring hatred.

" _Sinbad has been taken as a slave.."_

 _.._

 _.._

 _.._

 _.._

" _What? You want me to help you convince them to rebel? Why?" Sakura asked in disbelief_

 _"Because I heard from Madaura that you were quickly able to gain the children's affection. That's why she kept you around despite your defiance If they have someone else to turn to it will make it all the easier to convince them. They need to be willing to fight with everything they have."_

 _Sakura gaped at Sinbad, almost tempted to strike him for his stupidity as if he was under another spell and that perhaps the slap would bring his back to his senses._

" _They are children! You know what could happen to most of them if they fight!" There was no question about it or a glimmer of doubt of what would be the outcome. "Not to mention those who survive after!"_

 _They were in Reim, after all, the local infrastructure supported slavery so a slave rebellion would result in an execution of those slaves that have rebelled, even if they were children._

 _"I do know," Sinbad said, his voice lowering, in strict confirmation._

" _And you're still going to do it?" Sakura asked, arms crossed now._

" _Yes."_

 _Sakura fell silent, Sinbad's plan would entail a method that would without a doubt leave all of those children tainted-for those who managed to make it and what would it entail for her? For supporting this idea? She knew it might be something far greater than she could handle and yet….when she looked at up at Sinbad yet to reveal her identity to him._

" _Okay."_

 _.._

…

…

…

 _The strike was swift, the blade moved so fast it was hard to identify the sharp end of it, barely half a second it had embedded itself in flesh, the sticky warmth covered Sakura's hands but it was not the blood of the person she wanted._

" _Lady Madaura…..you….have to get...-away."_

" _Kil…." Madaura trailed, watching as the last slave still loyal to her, the only one she could have still used was now on the ground, drowning in a puddle of his own blood, eyes already dimmed, lifeless._

 _Sakura-now awakened from her state of passive hysteria, stared down at Kil, the resolve to kill dissipated before it grew once again, her eyes looked back to Madaura; who was futility attempting to bring the child back to life. Sakura's hands began shaking, she had actually killed someone. It was a bitter settling. She had actually intentionally killed someone, even if the intended person was not the one who was killed, Sakura herself had still intended to kill someone-and she still did._

" _At least you won't be a slave anymore."_

Sakura opened her eyes again, returning to the sight in front of her.

"You'll realize that it was the chaos of the world's shinobi that created Pain, and that's what truly killed Jiraiya," Minato told Naruto. "In order for this chain of hatred to end, Jiraiya-sensei entrusted his aspirations to you."

"That's why I can't forgive Pain!" Naruto shook before his eyes saddened and he stilled, "I can't…"

"I know."

"Then what am I supposed to do!?" Naruto asked desperately.

"That is something only you can find the answer to."

"There's no way I could ever understand what you and Pervy sage couldn't!" Naruto exclaimed. "I'm dimwitted! I'm not too good a ninja! I-

"You're stupid." Sakura interrupted, causing both males to look at her. Naruto and Minato were taken aback by Sakura's appearance, never realizing that she was there.

"You're…" Naruto realized who it was when he looked at her mask, even though she appeared differently again, in another form. "How did you get here?"

Sakura smiled, stepping closer to the pair. "You're right you know Naruto. You are dimwitted, dense, a bit of a hothead, loud, lose your-

"Hey wait, how do you know so much about me!?" Naruto asked, flaying his arms around. What she said was rather accurate though and that's what embarrassed him the most. Especially right in front of his father.

"Because I'm your friend," Sakura stated. Naruto stilled, watching Sakura, he tried looking closer, to see who she was but he just couldn't place her.

"My friend?"

She nodded, "Yes. I'm your friend and I know that you will find an answer to Pain's question."

"How can you be so sure?" Naruto asked, looking between Minato and Sakura. "How can anyone be sure? Even you were able to answer Pain when I couldn't! So why do you think I can find an answer?"

"Because I believe in you," Minato stated surely, putting his hand on top of Naruto's head. He then looked at Sakura and smiled. "We believe in you."

"Yes; you'll definitely find an answer," Sakura said, she held up her fist. "Because you're Naruto after all."

Naruto felt tears fall down his face again as he looked between the two; it was like he could feel their feelings for him wrap around like a warm, protective blanket. From a father, he grew up without and a girl behind a mask, practically strangers and yet they were putting so much faith into him.

"It's time for me to go." Minato removed his hand from on top of Naruto's head. "I'll restore the seal but just this once."

Putting his hand over Naruto's exposed stomach, where there was a dark circle leaking blackness, Minato sealed it off and the black turned into a spiral on Naruto's navel. He was about to fall over when Sakura came and caught Naruto, wrapping her arms around his shoulders.

"Konoha can still begin anew. I'll be counting on you, Naruto." Minato started to disappear, but before he looked at Sakura, "I don't suppose you're going to tell me who you are?"

Sakura simply shook her head, "You can think of me as your son's guardian."

"I'll be counting on you to take care of him then." He said

"Of course," Sakura whispered as he vanished. Leaving only Naruto and Sakura in the white nothingness.

Breathing deeply, Sakura stood up straighter moving away from Naruto before turning to hold out her hand towards him. "Well then, shall we go?"

Naruto stared at Sakura, there was a new gleam of determination; one that knew no hesitance or lacked confidence-it was exactly like 'his' and Sakura's heart thrummed in happiness at the thought.

"Yeah."

He took her hand. And the two returned to the light.

* * *

Pain could not believe what he was seeing; the Kyuubi that was nearly fully formed vanished in the blink of an eye and in its place, standing on the planetoid was Naruto, returned to his human state and in Sage mode from the look of his eyes; floating next to him with her arms crossed was Sakura. Both had their sights locked on Pain.

"What the hell…is this?"

Katsuyu, who had been hiding inside of Naruto's pocket slithered onto the boy's shoulder to look at what was happening. She had been informing her counterparts that were with everyone else back in the village what had been happening concerning the battle.

Sakura and Naruto watched Pain carefully, but then the planetoid he created started to crumble. The power that held it together diminished and thus resulted in its end. Naruto was latched onto it with his chakra, ended up falling with it.

Sakura quickly flew over to Naruto, grasping his hand and maneuvered carefully through the rubble. She knew that they were going to have to end this soon, while she still had magoi to spare not having been able to activate her extreme magic, she was still cautious. Naruto was also beginning to draw to his limit.

The Kyuubi's transformation had disrupted Naruto's sage jutsu; more specifically, the clone that was gathering nature energy vanished and now Naruto was only left with a certain amount of time to be in Sage Mode and it wasn't like he had that much time, to begin with.

"We've gotta do this fast." He said to Sakura.

"Right."

When Naruto and Sakura landed on the ground a little ways from Pain, Naruto turned in the direction of the Leaf village, he could see the smoke rising with it and became worried. He had been completely gone when he was transformed.

"Don't worry." Sakura said quickly, "You didn't harm anyone."

Naruto clutched his jacket, the fabric near his heart as he trembled. "Thank goodness…"

After wiping his eyes, Naruto set his sights on Pain. Although he had gone through a battle with Naruto in his out-of-control Kyuubi's form, he was still standing.

"Did you come to understand a little of what true pain feels like?" the Akatsuki asked them. "If you do not understand the same pain, you can never truly understand another person. That is the truth. It's just as futile as you chasing after Sasuke."

Sakura didn't flinch, but she felt an aching anger bubbling inside of her that she attempted to withhold.

"Take us to where your real body is," Naruto demanded. "I want to talk to you in person."

Pain seemed bemused that Naruto realized there was a 'real body' however he would not allow it. He did not believe it would make a difference if they met with him in person anyway. He knew Naruto could only throw his Rasen Shuriken two more times before his Sage mode wore off. Although, he was mostly concerned for Sakura. Whether or not this was her final form, or if she could still alternate herself.

"I will not give you any more chances." Pain said as he walked towards the two, he had already brought out a black receiver from his cloak. "All that remains is beating you half to death and bringing you back with me."

Pain's speed began to increase, Naruto moved back getting into a defensive position. "Looks like we'll have to look for the real body ourselves."

"Yeah, but how?" Sakura asked, preparing for Pain's attack.

Naruto looked at the black receiver in Pain's hands and had an idea in what might work. "I need that iron rod."

Nodding, Sakura flew forward, towards Pain. He tried stabbing her with the rod again but the pinkette moved quickly. She used Beleth's flames to throw Pain off guard as she continued her way towards him, then she grabbed him by his coat and threw him across the area into a lineup of rocks that had fallen. She handed Naruto the iron spike she grabbed from Pain and stabbed himself in his arm.

"What are you-

"These things can send chakra out," Naruto told her. "So I'm gonna do the same with my chakra to track Pain's location."

It was a smart move and it worked, Naruto now knew exactly where the real Pain was hiding. Sakura knew wouldn't have been able to do something like that herself, especially not as she was right now. If the rod went in all, all chakra signals would cut off.

"Found him."

Pain started to gather himself up from the ground, glaring at Naruto and Sakura. "You bastard."

"That's what you get for underestimating your opponent," Sakura stated.

Naruto looked to Sakura, "Ready?"

She nodded, "Whenever you are."

Pain glared at Naruto, "You who have no answer should just give up!"

Naruto pulled out the rod and threw it to the side, before creating two shadow clones. He started rotating his hands, forming a bright blue light of charka to create the Rasen Shuriken. He then ordered his clones to throw down smoke bombs to obscure Pain's vision. From the blue smoke, emerged Naruto's Rasen Shuriken, as Pain expected. He was quick to deflect the attack but what he didn't realize at the last minute was that the first shuriken was meant to hide the second Rasen Shuriken in the first one's shadow and that Pain wouldn't be able to deflect.

Two clones of Naruto's appeared on either side of Pain and went to attack him, but Pain destroyed the shadow clones by stabbing them with the black receivers and then using them as leverage to leap into the air and avoid Naruto's second attack.

While in the air, Pain was able to look down below at Naruto and Sakura who were staring up at him, there were only three seconds left before he would be able to use his jutsu again and take care of them both. However, Pain realized that something was off when the disguised Sakura moved around Naruto's side to his outstretched hand and started rotating chakra in his palm.

'What?'

Then a heavy pressure was applied from behind that forced him down, causing Pain to crash to the ground. When he glanced behind him, he saw Sakura in the air and realized that they must have used the smoke as a cover-up for Naruto to transform one of his shadow clones into Sakura while the original flew into the air to land an attack from behind.

Sakura wasn't finished though, she held out her hands towards Pain as he stood up from the ground, "Khalif Nar."

The fire that sprayed from her hands had an overbearing heat, he could almost feel it in his original body. Pain quickly went to defend against it, knowing that if he was hit with that, there would be nothing left.

"Shinra Tensei."

The flames around Pain began to deflect back away from him, however in the midst of Pain's distraction. Naruto was able to use two shadow clones to throw him forward, with his Rasengan prepared and attack Pain head on.

As Naruto neared him, Pain realized that this had been their plan all along. With the fires spread out and Naruto heading straight towards him, as well as using his technique there was nowhere else to run.

"Give up trying to make me give up!" Naruto exclaimed as he struck Pain in the chest directly with his Rasengan.

With the raw power and force, Naruto pushed Pain back far into the rocks, crashing hard and causing a small tremor.

Sakura flew down to Naruto and caught him before he fell; after that last attack, he was incapable of landing properly. Although Sakura herself was beginning to feel fatigued.

Sakura and Naruto remained still for a few moments catching their breath, they glanced over at the last Pain, who laid motionless amongst the rubble.

"We…" Naruto panted, "We beat him…"

Sakura put her hand over her chest, her heart was beating heavily from that last attack, anxious because it was their last defense. When they were in the smoke, Sakura saw Naruto transform one of his clones into her and she got the just of what she needed to do, so she took off to the sky and waited until Pain was air born, where she would have the advantage and then strike him down so that Naruto could deliver the finishing blow.

"Yeah…" Sakura exhaled softly, leaning back against Naruto's form. It didn't feel like much a victory though. To either one of them. Despite this, Naruto said something that latched onto Sakura's mind and would stay for a long time.

"We make a pretty good team."

Something inside of Sakura felt fixed after he said that; like the satisfaction of finding one of the last pieces in a thousand part puzzle, despite that there were many more to go and you are on the verge of giving up, you find that single piece that makes you continue.

Sakura smiled silently, standing up she drew a breath before turning to Naruto, holding out her hand. He stared at the clawed armor, blinking slowly.

"Well then, shall we go and see 'Pain'?"

* * *

After removing the iron rods from the last Pain, Sakura and Naruto took off in order to meet with the main body of Pain. The one who was controlling all of this. Sakura took to the sky, carrying Naruto underneath her, holding him under his arms.

"Naruto, what exactly do you plan to do once you see Pain?" Sakura asked finally after a few moments of flying. There was an eerie feeling that seemed to settle after they defeated the last Pain.

The boy was quiet for a few minutes before finally responding, "I don't know; that's why I want to see him. I want to find out for myself what I'll do."

Sakura had a brief moment of silence as well before she finally spoke again. "If you're going to kill for revenge, you better be ready for what comes after."

"What?" Naruto breathed out. There was obvious surprise by the statement that the girl seemed to make so nonchalantly.

"Revenge isn't just senseless killing for self-gratification. It's a concept of give and take. It gives you a short moment of absolute bliss, followed by an eternal consequence on your conscience. It's one of the few decisions that can either be right or wrong."

"Hey…" Naruto trailed, glancing up at Sakura although he quickly averted his eyes when he realized the kind of view he had from this angle. Her powerful transformations definitely came with some interesting attire.

Sakura looked down to Naruto, letting him know she had his attention. He was the one directing this flight after all. Directions weren't what Naruto wanted to talk about though, there was a lot he wanted to know about this masked girl; starting with who she was and how she seemed to know him so well and what she just said to him, but then they both stopped when they heard someone calling Naruto's forest down below in the forest.

"NARUTO."

The girl looked at Naruto, asking if they should go down and Naruto nodded. So Sakura landed on a tree branch beside Naruto and in front of three leaf Shinobi. It was Inoichi and Shikaku and a Hyuga.

"What are you guys doing here?" Naruto asked.

Sakura saw that all eyes were on her before they returned to Naruto. They were obviously suspicious of her appearance, not that she really expected anything different. It was still strange to have someone look at you like you're a stranger when they know you.

"You being here…does this mean you defeated the sixth Pain?" asked Inoichi.

Naruto narrowed his eyes, "It doesn't matter."

Sakura understood why Naruto would give that sort of reply; their victory, it wouldn't bring back those villagers who lost their lives in the disaster that Pain had caused. It was a horrifically nostalgic feeling for Sakura but to Naruto, it was an entirely new experience that would leave him a little less green.

When Naruto was asked what happened, he simply replied it didn't matter.

"We're going to see the real Pain," Naruto told them. "Please don't follow us."

The three males appeared shocked at the announcement. Naruto explained how he was able to find Pain's real body using his Sage Mode but there was still one standing problem.

"What?" Inoichi asked, throwing out his hand, "You're going to face the real Pain? That's so reckless."

"I want to talk to him, to confirm something."

"Confirm what? Talking to him won't solve anything and what's more; you're going with her?"

Naruto narrowed his eyes, standing a little closer to Sakura. "She helped me defeat all of the Pain's."

"That may be," Shikaku acknowledged, "But we don't know who she is and this power she wields isn't something anyone could recognize. She might be dangerous."

"She's my friend," Naruto said firmly; he grasped Sakura's claw in his hand. "She risked her life to save mine and the village. She's an ally!"

Sakura kept quiet; Naruto might not have been too sharp in recognizing her voice; which she had worked to changing, speaking at a difference octave just to be safe, but the slightest hint or habit she exhibited in front of the other three males, could later become what reveals her identity. The Hyuga male had activated his Byakugan and was looking right at Sakura, she knew he was trying to see through her mask and Sakura couldn't help but smirk when she saw him squint his eyes. With her magoi surfaced in her form and her third-eye exposed, he couldn't see her face, it was like trying to see through a window with the curtains closed.

Sakura honestly didn't know whether or not she was going to be discovered by that ability. However, she discovered that the Djinn's third-eye was proving to be far more useful in this world than in the other. Magoi covered the entire body when djinn equip was activated as the djinn from the metal vessel was internalized into its user and chakra flowed through a system that was visible to the Byakugan. The energies sources were truly worlds apart.

"Just what do you think you two are going to accomplish by talking to him!?" Inoichi exclaimed. "He's the enemy that destroyed Konoha! There's no way that he can be forgiven!"

"I feel exactly the same way! I couldn't forgive him for what he's done to the village," Naruto trembled, remembering the destructive pile that was now his village. The village where he grew up, had friends, and what's more, it was the village he wanted to guide as their leader, as Hokage and now it was gone.

Inoichi was about to ask Naruto why he wanted to speak to Pain if he felt such negativity towards him, but Shikaku interrupted.

"Why don't we just let them go?" he suggested "They are the ones who stopped Pain, they have the right to talk to him. Just let them go."

"Thanks, old man Shikaku."

Sakura and Naruto took off again, leaving the three males behind and continuing towards their destination without worry of pursuit, knowing that they were going to leave them be for now.

"Did you see her face?" Shikaku asked the Hyuga when Naruto and Sakura flew out of sight.

"No, it's like there was something covering her form."

* * *

As Sakura and Naruto drew nearer to their destination, Naruto had them stop so that he could stand still and gather some nature energy, allowing him to activate sage mode once again. Which took no more than a few minutes.

Then they came to a makeshift tree, made of paper, but larger than most although it blended in well with the rest of the environment.

"This it,"

Naruto opened a hole through it; he and Sakura entered. A beautiful woman with short purple hair wearing the Akatsuki robe was the first to greet them when they entered and she appeared ready to attack the two when a males course voice cut in.

"Konan, step back."

She looked behind her, into the narrow darkness. "Nagato?"

"It's alright."

Naruto and Sakura followed the direction of that darkness that was giving shape to someone.

"So you're Pain's real form huh?" asked Naruto

In the dim light, they were able to make out 'Pain's' features or rather Nagato, as that was his real identity. There was a man with short red hair, his body was sickly thin, they were able to see his ribs, his eyes held the Rinnegan. He was attached to some mechanical contraption from his waist down as well as his arms. There were also multiple black receivers in his back.

"So, peace has nonchalantly arrived eh?" Nagato asked.

Sakura frowned, "I wouldn't say that."

"Do you hate me then? You enemy right before your eyes? You want revenge to don't you?"

As Naruto and Sakura stared at the man behind Pain, their emotions overflowed with the memories of the destruction and death that this man has caused to those they cared about. Despite his seemingly incapacitated body; there was no sliver of sympathy that shined the storm of their anger. Having experiences like this before; Sakura was able to withdraw herself a little from the situation and reframe from an outburst. Naruto was not.

"Two wrongs don't make a right, because two wrongs could never equate to each other. I cannot forgive you, but I will not be attacking you." Sakura said, eerily calm. She stared right at Nagato. "Revenge isn't the reason I came here; nor is it my right to inflict. That right belongs to him."

After gesturing to Naruto, Konan finally spoke. "If you were to kill Nagato right now, nothing would change."

"That constant fact doesn't and hasn't stopped anyone from inflicting revenge before," Sakura stated certainly.

Naruto trembled, clenching his fists and gritting his teeth as if he was fighting back his own hatred, remembering everything he had learned, everything he was taught and yet his hate, his fury, his thirst for vengeance, it was too strong.

"You who could not answer anything; cannot do anything." He told Naruto. "Your role is to be sacrificed for the peace that I will create!"

The front panels of Nagato's contraption opened and he fired a long black receiver at Naruto but despite seeing it from the distance he did not dodge it. Allowing it to pierce into his chest, Naruto slouched forward with blood dripping. Nagato stated that from the distance they were at, he could manipulate Naruto's movement with his chakra. But when Naruto looked up at him; there was no fear in his eyes or signs of discomfort from the wound, only hatred. His chakra seeped through the receiver, it was like an internal flame had been lit within Nagato as he choked for air.

"I came here because I wanted to talk to you," Naruto muttered. "But to also confirm my own feelings. If my enemy was standing right in front of me, what would I do? I didn't know."

"And?" Nagato asked.

Gripping the iron beam, Naruto exclaimed in a gruff voice. "I cannot forgive you! Even now I want to kill you so badly, I can't stop trembling!"

Ripping out the receiver, Naruto charged towards Nagato and Konan quickly stood between them. Sakura saw something, when Naruto lunged towards Nagato and when Konan went to stand in front of him to defend him. This was the same scene she had created; this was just like 'that time'.

"It's your decision Naruto!" Sakura exclaimed.

In that instant, he stopped.

Holding back from the punch he was about to deliver; he looked down. "Pervy sage told me that he believed the time would come when people really did understand one another and I was told that revenge gives and takes. And I was entrusted to find the answer for him. Now I finally understand."

"But there's still no changing that you cannot forgive me." Nagato pointed out. "Even she…said that she would not forgive, despite being able to keep herself at bay."

"It's not for your sake or anything like that." Sakura said strongly, "It's for me and that's the only reason. Because I'm selfish."

Nagato looked at Sakura, unwavering. "Then that's fine, people always put their own interests above others and you're no different. Just able to see it better than others. But what about you?" he looked at Naruto again. "Can you really believed Jiraiya-sensei's nonsense after seeing what reality is?"

Naruto appeared calmer now, addressing Konan and Nagato in a clearer voice. "Ever since I heard you were once Jiraiya-sensei's students, there's been something I wanted to ask."

"What?"

"If you're really his students, how did you end up like this?" Naruto exclaimed. "I want to hear your story and then answer you."

Nagato didn't take long to reply, "Alright, I'll tell you the story of our pain."

Nagato's tale of the past was nothing Sakura wasn't partially aware of before. There were certain gaps in the times because of Yunan's constant wonder-lust that had left fragments open to what he had not seen and heard but Nagato filled those in soon after.

"There are two incidents that fuel my pain. The first is the death of my parents."

He started by telling them about the death of his parents during the war between the shinobi nations. There was ninja who broke into his house and mistook his parents for the enemy and murdered them right before his eyes when he was a child. They were Konoha ninja. Nagato told them how he ended up using his Rinngan and killed them without realizing, knocking himself out and waking up in a haze to the bodies in front of him.

Sakura and Naruto could only listen silently.

"Both my mother and father were killed in that war, Konoha started. I've never been able to let go of my pain to this day. That pain manifested in hatred and gave rise to my power."

Orphaned, Nagato took off from home. He met Konan and Yahiko; who were also orphans from the war. The three of them along with their dog Chibi survived together; that included stealing from markets. Due to that, there were situations when they were forced to run but despite the hardships, it was Yahiko who never gave into despair.

"Yahiko never gave up." Nagato trailed, "He had a dream, to rule the world and stop the wars. That dream sparked the same desire within me. Then one day, while we were travelling and accidentally stepped into a battlefield between Shinobi. It was Jiraiya-sensei and his two comrades. They were fighting against Hanzo, Amegakure's leader. The battle raged on. Then…."

Nagato revealed how they all left to then pursue the Leaf ninja, after travelling through a war zone, Yahiko approached Jiraiya to ask him to train himself, Nagato and Konan to be ninja. Jiraiya hadn't agreed right away, but he had decided to stay with them while Tsunade and Orochimaru returned from the battlefield. Although Nagato admitted he was reluctant in accepting Jiraiya.

"My parents were killed by Konoha shinobi, but Jiraiya-sensei felt different from them." Nagato lowered his chin slightly, "A little while after the four of us started living together, that incident happened."

"Incident?" Naruto asked, curious to know what had happened next.

"A shinobi that had been left behind attacked Yahiko and I while we were on our own, as he tried to kill Yahiko, I turned the tables and killed him instead. I did it without even realizing." Nagato closed his eyes as if he was picturing that exact moment in time. "For some reason, it appeared that I had a very unique power. The doujutsu, known as Rinnegan."

Sakura bit her lip hard; she couldn't reveal the truth but it was tempting to reveal that she knew exactly how he received those eyes, but she would hold off because this was a story Naruto needed to hear. And there would have been no difference made at this point. At least that's how it seemed from where she stood.

"After the incident, Jiraiya-sensei who had been reluctant to teach us the ways of shinobi began to teach us ninjutsu. He told us it was so that we could defend ourselves, but I knew it was so that I could learn how to control the Rinnegan." Nagato paused, closing his eyes briefly. "But I was afraid of my own power…hatred was driving me crazy. I thought I had done something wrong so I was tormented by feelings of guilt but it was sensei who saved me from that. He told me, 'when you hurt you learn to hate. When you hurt others you're tormented by feelings of guilt. But because of that pain, you're also able to treat others more kindly. Man matures because they know pain. And to mature is to start thinking for yourself and to make your own decisions. To know and reflect upon pain and come up with your own answer. Sensei wasn't able to come up with an answer himself though. Just like you aren't able to come up with one now."

Nagato looked to Sakura then, "And the only way you could have had an answer; is if you've already known pain and reflected."

Sakura didn't reply to the truth that was partial to her.

He went on to tell them about Jiraiya explaining to Nagato, the time of never-ending wars, when a "messiah", the Sage of the Six Paths, appeared and spread his religion across the world, which came to be the ninja techniques that the shinobi used today. Jiraiya thought the Sage had been "reborn" as Nagato and entrusted him to find the "answer" and spread peace in the world, before leaving the three orphans.

"Jiraiya-sensei entrusted me in finding the answer to peace, then left us. We started to act as an organization with Yahiko as the leader, in an instant, we became famous. To abolish wars and bring peace to the world. We captured the attention of Hanzō, who approached us to join hands and work together to bring peace among the war-torn countries of Earth, Fire, and Wind."

Nagota paused, allowing the two to take in the facts of the story as well as to begin to churn their own feelings.

"But this association turned out to be a trap laid by Hanzō, as he feared that our organization would take over the leadership of Amegakure. He lured Yahiko and I to a place where were where supposed to do the peace negotiations. We were surrounded by Hanzo's subordinates and Konoha's Anbu squad. Hanzou was working with a man named Danzo to get rid of us."

Nagato then explained that Hanzou had kidnapped Konan, and then proposed for Yahiko to die to save Konan's life. He threw a kunai in Nagato's direction and ordered him to kill Yahiko. Yahiko agreed to die, but Nagato refused to kill him. Seeing this, Yahiko forcibly ran into the kunai Nagato held, killing himself. This incident led Nagato to go berserk, as he used his Rinnegan's abilities to subdue and backfire all attacks on him. Effectively he had killed almost every one of the ninja that were there.

"Yahiko was dead, I became the leader of the organization. Yahiko's death was my second pain." Nagato told them. Watching Naruto specifically for any reaction. "Your people of the Fire Country who would stop at nothing to achieve peace. The people of the Fire Country knowingly support war, yet hypocritically talk of peace. The barely existent peace of your great nations is made possible by the sacrifice of lesser nations like ours. To us your peace means violence. Just by living, people are hurting others without even realizing it. As long as mankind continue to exist, so will hatred. True peace cannot exist in this cursed world."

Nagato spoke so clearly and his story was vivid enough for them to envision themselves and to really feel a sliver of what he must have during that time. Yet, Sakura could not bring herself to agree with Nagato's statements. That peace could not exist. For to believe that; would be to abandon the faith she had placed in **him.** It would mean to forget everything that **he** has done so far and what **he** would do in the future.

"You're wrong," Sakura said softly.

Konan and Nagato looked at her, "You're so quick to deny it? Even after everything I've told you."

"I'm not denying anything," Sakura said. "What you said would seem to be the truth to you; because you have not seen it."

"Seen what?" asked Nagato.

"The miracles in the worlds," Sakura replied, "The ones who are able to shape their own fate despite destiny. Your objective for peace and Yahiko's could not be achieved because you were not capable of finding the real answer. I have mine but; I will only give it after he does…"

Sakura looked to Naruto and Nagato chose to address him. "Well, let's hear your answer."

Naruto was silent and that was cause for concern given his loud nature. He was truly reflecting on everything Nagato had told him of his past pains. Naruto reached into his pouch, it looked like he was reaching for a weapon but what he brought out was a book titled 'Tales of a gutsy ninja.'

"You're right," Naruto said. "I think the same as you do. I understood what you were saying, but still, I really can't…forgive you. I hate you after all."

"So will you settle this?"

Naruto didn't answer and instead continued, "But…Pervy sage believed in me and entrusted this to me. So I will believe in what sense believed in me! That is my answer! That's why…I won't kill you."

"I see…that's your answer." Nagato didn't seem impressed by his reply, rather further agitated. "Does that mean we must just wait for you to make to world a peaceful place!? There is no such thing as true peace! As long as we exist in this accursed world there will be no such thing!"

Naruto looked at Nagato with a determined shine in his eyes, "Then I'll end this curse! If there is such a thing as peace then I shall grasp it! I'll never give up."

Nagato had a different reaction to Naruto's declaration then, "You…those words are…"

"Yeah…" Naruto looked down at the book, "Everything I just said, are words written from within this book. The first book that Pervy-sage every wrote. He wanted to change the world with this book. On the last page of this book, he wrote of a student who gave him the inspiration to write it." Naruto turned to the last page. "It was you, Nagato."

The man was struck silent, as he came to remember a time when he was still with Jiraiya. He was about to write a book but could come up with any ideas and Nagato came in talking about how he had finally come up with an answer to peace. By ending the curse of this world.

"And the name of the main character in this book…." Naruto trailed, "Is Naruto. That is why my name is a precious memento of Pervy Sage. I have no intention of making a scar on that by giving up! I will become Hokage and when I do I will bring peace to Amegakure as well! Please believe in me."

"Why?" asked Nagato. "How can you stand there and declare that you will never change? No matter what pain you face?"

"It's simple." Sakura finally spoke, stepped forward to stand right beside Naruto. She looked up at Nagato. "Because the answer to the question you've struggled to find is right in front of you….it's Naruto."

Konan and Nagato stared at Sakura with wide eyes, even Naruto was surprised by her answer. Sakura spread her fingers over her chest.

"Facing pains like he has and yet he is able to continue on. It stays with him, weighing him down and yet he keeps running at the same speed." Sakura felt tears gather in the corner of her eyes. She saw Naruto smiling in her mind and then Sinbad "I believe that people like him; will always be able to move forward no matter what hardships they must endure. After all….he's the main character of this world's reality. That is a miracle. That is Naruto."

It felt like something had been gained in that instant for both Naruto and Nagato; as they looked at Sakura and listened to her determined claims for Naruto.

"You truly believe that much in him?"

"Of course," Sakura said. She placed her armored hand on Naruto's shoulder. "After all, he is the one with true determination and that's enough."

Naruto smiled sincerely happy, yet he felt like crying. He turned to Nagato. "That's right; no matter what pain I face, I will go on. That's who Naruto is!"

Nagato closed his eyes, finally understanding the meaning behind both of their words. "If the main character changes, so will the story...You're a mysterious guy. You remind me of my old self. I wasn't able to believe in Jiraiya-sensei-no I wasn't able to believe in myself. However, I have a feeling that you can walk a different path than I did and face a different future."

Moving his arms, Nagato pulled his hands free from the contraption, "I think I shall try believing in you…Naruto Uzumaki."

Putting his fingers together, Pain formed a hand sign."Gendou: Rinne Tensei no jutsu!"

Konan who had remained quietly calm became frantic, "Nagato you-

"It's alright," he said to the women. "I've made a new choice, a choice I had given up on."

"What kind of technique is that?" asked Naruto.

Konan looked back at Naruto, a solemn expression forming. "A Rinnegan user can use all technique of the six bodies of Pain and is said to exist outside the realm of life and death. Nagato's ocular power is a technique the governs life and death. The seventh Pain"

This technique being used by Nagato was taking effect all the way back in Konoha. Bringing those who had recently passed in the chaos of Pain's destruction back to life. Although they weren't able to see it. Sakura and Naruto were more occupied focusing on how Nagato's appearance had begun to change, his red hair started fading to white, there seemed to be a discoloration of his form and he physically appeared to be in pain.

"What's going on?" Naruto asked. Konan just looked away with sad eyes.

Katsuyu, who was still in Naruto's jacket, climbed out onto his shoulder, telling them what her counterparts were seeing back in Konoha. "The villagers are being revived!"

Sakura gasped, looking back at Nagato. "You brought them all back?"

Nagato opened his eyes again, small beads of sweat were running down his face. "There's time to save those I killed in Konoha. It's the least I can do to atone."

Sakura's hands clenched tightly at her sides.

Atone.

That word alone had Sakura thinking back to all those children who had been turned into slaves, the ones who had looked to her with hope and ambition for the first time since they had been labelled as property. The ones she had used, by telling them to fight for their freedom, making an empty promise to grant them a sense of security and then practically lead them to their deaths. She would never be able to forget that sin she had committed. The bodies piled and the pyre where they were carried into.

'I wonder if someone could tell me, what I need to do to atone.' Sakura thought.

Finally, Nagato released his hands, ending the jutsu having revived everyone in the village who had been lost during his attack. "War brings death, wounds, and pain to both sides. There's nothing harder than accepting the death of a loved one. And so we convince ourselves that they cannot die. Especially your generation that does not know war. You look for meaning in death but there is only pain and hatred, which you cannot understand that consumes you." Blood began to fall from Nagato's mouth. "People die like trash. An everlasting hatred accompanied by a pain that cannot be healed. That is war. Naruto, this is what you must go against." Nagato gave as side smile. "You two and that book…it's almost as if someone planned it all. Or could it be the work of God? Naruto…I truly believe you can…"

Nagato's eyes slowly closed, his body slumped forward and everyone knew that he would not be waking up again. Nagato had reached his limit with the Rinnegan and passed on. The paper tree where they were all standing in began to revert, thousands of pieces of paper started to fly across them like birds as Konan removed the jutsu.

Sakura looked up at the clear sky through her mask, contemplating. The turn of events in this world and the ones in the other. What Nagato had said about her, Naruto and the book that had somehow changed Nagato's mind.

'I wonder…..'

* * *

It was clear that the battle was finished and there was no sign that Konan was looking to battle the two either. In fact, the three returned to where the last Pain-who was also Yahiko's body was. Konan had used her paper to wrap around both Nagato and Yahiko's body so she would be able to transport them with her when she left.

"What will you do? I hope you don't return to the Akatsuki." Naruto said to Konan.

"I'm done with Akatsuki. Yahiko and Nagato were the worlds to me. Both their dreams have been entrusted to you. You are now a part of those dreams. If Nagato will believe in you, so will I."

Before Kona left, she made a bouquet of paper flowers and handed them to Naruto, saying those were her flowers of hope. After leaving, Sakura and Naruto went into the forest where Naruto created a shrine of three stones, the middle carved in 'master'. A special grave meant for Jiraiya. Naruto placed three Kunai knives on top. The book he had gotten and the bouquet from Konan.

Sakura and Naruto were kneeling down in front of it; with their hands together praying silently. When Sakura was finished, she spoke.

"I'm glad," Sakura said, getting Naruto's attention.

"Huh?"

"You made the best decision," Sakura told him, starring at the shrine. "Not killing him. Not taking revenge."

Naruto gave a wry smile, looking back to the book the book in front of him. "Yeah; although I really wanted to before. I wanted to strike him down without hearing his story but I held myself back. I wonder….I have a friend who was after revenge too; now I understand a little about how he felt. It's really-

"Overwhelming," Sakura completed softly, "It's like an urge, a yearning like no other. Your entire being, heart, mind, body, soul wants it and your conscience is lost until you are able to exact it. Nothing else matters. But; it's not the right way to go about anything. It's the wrong decision."

Naruto looked up at the sky, "How can you be so sure that it's wrong though? No one really knows what revenge means until they want it themselves."

"Yes, and it's still the wrong decision for you," Sakura stated calmly. "You did the right thing in the end and that saved you, Naruto. It only has to happen once, you make the wrong decision and you're done. Not at first, it only feels like a misstep at first, a compromise, a concession to reality, a bad move well played but at some point, you're only going in that direction by the time you realize how far down that path you are; you are lost. Everything is unrecognizable-you are unrecognizable to yourself, you find yourself doing things you'd never thought you'd do in ways you'd never thought you could to save things you're not even sure you want to save but you can't help it. That's when you're done."

Naruto closed his eyes, thinking about Sasuke and wondering if that was the case for him right now? Was that the reason he wouldn't return to the village because he had gotten his revenge? Had he made the wrong decision?

"How do you know this?" he asked softly.

"Because I've made the wrong decision," Sakura stated, she took a heavy breath. "And I ended up lost on a path I hadn't meant to walk."

"Is that why you won't show your face?" Naruto asked.

Sakura remained silent.

Naruto smiled slightly, throwing his hands behind his head "If that's the case then I'll just go down that path and pull you back on the right one. And if anyone else I care about falls on that path, I'll just bring them back myself."

Sakura smiled, knowing he had placed Sasuke in that reference as well and it gave her so much more strength than she thought she was capable of right now. 'Only someone like you could do that Naruto.'

Naruto stood up, grinning madly as he stretched out.

"Well, should we get back to the village?"

There was no response to that, Sakura continued to stare at the shrine.

"What?" Naruto asked, still grinning. "Come on, we've got to go back together. I'm sure everyone's waiting for us."

He could see her smiling through her cracked mask when she looked back at him before she turned back around to the shrine again. "Sorry, Naruto but you should go on ahead without me. I'll catch up."

"Wait….you're not coming with me?" He asked softly, his voice laced with disappointment.

She shook her head. "I can't go back just yet."

"But…" Naruto trailed, looking down. "You still don't want anyone to know who you are?"

A light wind blew through the forest, rustling the leaves to create some sort of sound in the silence between Naruto and Sakura.

"I…." Sakura paused as she felt the warmth dripping down her mouth and eyes and the metallic smell and taste of blood. She had pushed herself far for this and now her retribution was arriving. She didn't want Naruto to see this nor did she want him to know. "I can't."

"Why?"

"This power…." Sakura stared at her hand. "No one in this world can truly comprehend it and it might make things very difficult for those I care about…"

"You saved Konoha," Naruto said, putting his hand on his chest. "You're an ally! You're going to be acknowledged for that! There's no reason to be afraid."

"I'm not afraid." Sakura murmured, "But I can't go back right now." j

"You told my dad you were my guardian," Naruto said quickly, he took a step forward. "You're supposed to have my back right? How can you do that when you're not with me?"

Sakura was smiling, "I'm always going to be around when you're in trouble. I'm a lot closer than you think."

While keeping her back to him, Sakura removed her cracked mask from her face and placed it in front of the shrine. She spread out her wings.

"You'll just have to wait a little longer." Sakura breathed out softly, "Go back Naruto; you're the one everyone needs to see. After all….this is your story."

With that she took off, ignoring Naruto's calls for her to come back as he helplessly watched from the ground; starring at the girl who was out of his reach now.

"I'm sure, we can share chapters." Naruto murmured, staring up at the empty skies.

* * *

Sakura was falling fast, it wasn't long before her body hit the grounded heavily when she crashed, skidding across; her body scraping before she finally came to a halt somewhere in the forest, unable to carry herself any further than this. Her djinn equip vanished and she lied there motionless as the pain washed over her, but it was not physical; because that could be healed easily.

Her mind began flashing images, of the moments in which her entire village was destroyed in an instant, where she had fought with Naruto against all six Pains, how Hinata had risked her life to save Naruto; then she saw Sinbad, Badr, and Esra and she thought her heart was about to burst from her chest from the agonizing pain it was enduring.

" _You did well my king," praised Stolas._

" _You are indeed a worthy vessel," Orias told her._

 _"Not bad, my king," Sitri said._

" _That was very impressive my king," said Gaap._

 _"You were very strong, my king," Beleth told her gently._

She felt the stinging sensation and the warmth of tears filling her eyes, throwing her arm over face, her lips trembled, before the tears slipped down her face, pooling down her neck. Sakura's djinns instantly felt their master's distress and attempted to get her to confide what was wrong.

What was wrong when she had won?

Her throat went dry, her face went completely red up to her neck from trying not to breathe knowing it was going to be accompanied with the release of her sorrows and when she opened her mouth all she could do was let out the loudest, most powerful screams she could muster.

" **AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH"**


	20. Present: Sindria's hidden memories

**Hey everyone. I'm finally back with a new chapter. It's been a really long time since I updated and after reading a few requests for the next chapter, I had to oblige.**

 **I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

The end of events in Balbadd had brought about an unbelievable amount of fatigue on everyone. From Balbadd's monarchy being abolished and the country being reestablished as a republic, Sakura, Ino, Hinata, Badr and Esra reunited, the nature of Sakura and Sinbad's former relationship that concluded in the twins; the civil war that had taken place in the country, it wasn't hard for anyone to place the source of their exhaustion.

Things were finally settling after the battle, there had been a heavy cleanup throughout the rest of the day and then finally when dawn settled, so did everyone else. Alibaba and everyone else were lodging in the palace, since Alibaba and Sinbad were going to have many affairs to settle with Balbadd's recreation; along with a string of many other items that were all seemingly on high priority, but they knew it wasn't possible to address everything in one night.

Sakura and her friends spent the rest of the day tending to all those injured during the riots, which was a substantial number, only being able to return from their activities late at night. This gave the impression that there was going to be very little chance of a window of opportunity opening to address the new, and longer set of issues that were now lined up.

Sakura didn't seem to think it was a downside to anything because most of those new issues that they needed to address revolved around her, Sinbad and her-their children. A subject she thought would remain forever stationary-at least in this world.

In the extravagant guest room that Sakura, Badr and Esra were sharing for the night; Sakura had sat down her children, readying herself to go into go to her dark maternal side. By giving them the details of their consequence for every mischievous act they had committed since she had been reunited with them in this world.

And she was definitely getting the reaction she expected from them for it.

"Alright," Sakura had her arms crossed while she addressed her children that were sitting on the plush red sofa, hands settled in their laps and eyes nervously averted. "As punishment, the two of you have to learn how to read and write this world's illustrations. Until then you are grounded, which means you have a curfew at eight every night and you're training three hours every day with me. Your punishment will be over once you are both able to read this worlds writing. Is that understood?"

Badr's jaw couldn't seem to close after his mother's statement, "Mom, that's not punishment-that's torture!"

When it came to discipline, Sakura had always been-in the kindest sense Badr could think of for his mother; brutal. When they started training at four, Sakura began with building up their strength and stamina by making them do a lot of cardio exercises, increasing the time until the minutes turned to hours. Usually it was difficult to remember the past, as the mind would wipe events clean for another to write itself in a more recent past, but Sakura's training was engraved in their minds.

Esra held out her hand, "Wait, the both of us? As in we both have to be able to read and write for our punishment to end?"

"That's right," Sakura confirmed

"But that's collective punishment! The whole 'working together-failing together' philosophy is great and all, but I'm going to have to wait for Badr!"

Badr glared at Esra, "What does that mean?! It's not like you're smarter than me!"

"I'm just not lazy!"

"Enough!" Sakura clapped her hands, silencing the two. "The two of you disobeyed me together, you're going to be punished together. If you want to end your punishment sooner, you're just going to have to help each other out. As a team."

"Yes mom….." the twins trailed, their tone underlining their disdain.

"And as for you Badr," Sakura pointed, "I am taking away your metal vessel until both you and Esra finish your punishment."

Badr gaped, standing up. "What?! Mom that is so unfair-

"Keep this up and I'll make your curfew at seven. You're lucky I'm allowing you two to leave my sight at all after everything that happened." Sakura's then drew back, her face softening. "I was so terrified something had happened to the two of you."

The twins looked down at their hands, feeling shame; having shared the same fears and terror when they saw Sakura being taken away by that masked-person. No one had addressed with them what the recent happenings were results of.

"I'm sorry, again mom," Esra said

"Yeah me too."

Sighing, Sakura hugged the siblings, feeling her worry dissipate as she relished in the warmth she knew was her children. They were here, and safe. And she wanted to ensure it stayed that way; especially with the looming danger that still needed to be addressed.

"I love you baby angels."

"We love you too."

Sakura and the twins only broke apart when the pinkette went to get the door, Ja'far was patiently standing outside with Masrur.

Sakura looked at them with expectance, "Another meeting?"

Ja'far nodded stiffly.

After settling the twins into bed and strictly warning them not to eavesdrop or leave the room, Sakura left with Ja'far and Masrur.

* * *

"Well, you're looking a lot better than you did this afternoon," Sakura said as she came into the room, seating herself at the end of a table were Sinbad was also occupied.

Sinbad chuckled dryly. He poured himself a glass of wine but kept eye-contact with Sakura easily. "I could say the same to you." Sinbad held out a cup to her, "Want some?"

"Definitely not," Sakura waved and Sinbad didn't press, only placed the cup back down "So what did you want to talk about?"

"That's a rhetorical question, right? Considering everything that happened today."

Sakura shrugged, "Well with everything that actually happened, I wouldn't know where to start talking. And shouldn't everyone else be here as well?"

Sinbad sighed softly, "I actually wanted to speak with you alone."

It felt like a rock just hit the bottom of Sakura's stomach; there were plenty of things that needed to be discussed right now but however necessary, Sakura still felt anxious. There was certainly a lot more happening today than they expected. "Oh, then I doubt this is going to be good,"

Sinbad chuckled humorlessly, "Afraid not, I wanted to start with Al-Thamen," Sinbad started, folding his hands in front of him. He was squeezing his hands so tightly his knuckles were turning white. "It's clear that they are targeting you, but while the reason remains unknown, you need to be a lot more cautious."

Sakura looked down at her hands in her lap, "It doesn't make sense. What would they want me for?"

"I don't know, but their intentions can't be good. I want to get you, Badr, Esra and your friends to Sindria as soon as possible. You'll be safer there."

Sakura's eyes shifted, almost closing, "Sindria….."

This change didn't go unnoticed by Sinbad; time had certainly changed many things and it was clear Sakura was afraid to face those changes. There were still many things that Sinbad needed to discuss with her and there was a fundamental that he had not brought up yet. He wasn't sure if it was because he didn't know how to, or because he simply did not want to paint the story on the blank canvas that was Sakura's memory.

"And in regards to that, I was thinking that while you are there when I return, Badr and Alibaba could start lessons together to master their djinn equip as well as their swordsmanship. Since Aladdin doesn't know how to use magic, I'm going to employ one of my generals and I believe it would be a good idea for Esra to take up lessons from the magician I told you about as well." Sinbad said softly, holding out his palm, "I saw a bit of her magic, and she's exceptionally strong but doesn't have any control. If she doesn't learn to control this, she could accidently expel all of her magoi."

Sakura drew in a breath softly, she remembered Judar calling Esra and magician and Ino and Hinata had told her about the episode Esra had after Sakura was taken by Ithnan. After that, all of those unsolved cases that Badr and Esra happen to be present for seemed to suddenly become transparent. In most of those cases, Esra had lost control of her powers, but they had covered their story because what she had accomplished would be considered impossible. Sakura knew a bit about magicians, they possess a large source of magoi in their bodies and are able to utilize it without the use of a metal vessel and it often was cause for a lot of unexplained occurrences.

Remembering the times Sakura should've realized what was going on with Esra, caused a distress to flash in her eyes before she hid them again. But Sinbad didn't miss it and came to his own conclusion.

"You didn't know about this did you?"

Sakura slumped down, shaking her head, "I didn't even consider the possibility that she was born a magician. I didn't think Esra would feel the need to hide it either."

Sinbad cautiously brought his hand up, reaching for the pinkette but recoiled before she noticed, losing his flicker of boldness. "Another matter, I still have to go to the Kou Empire regarding Balbadd's state as well. The journey to and back is going to take a few months so until then-

"You have to put off helping us find a way back to our world." Sakura finished, looking back up at him.

Sinbad nodded, watching the pinkette with caution for reaction. He was surprised when she didn't attack him when she walked into the palace, but that might have been on account of the audience; now that there was none, he was nervous for several reasons.

"I don't mean to inconvenience you or-

"No, I understand," Sakura said, holding up her hand. "Although, I'm wondering if we shouldn't consult a magi about this rather than a magician. A magi is meant to have the ability to travel to different worlds and yet it was Gyokuen Ren who transferred us with some reinvention of the Looking Glass."

Sinbad snickered, "That might work, however, the only magi in this world are Judar and obviously, we cannot consult him for obvious reasons. There's a magi in Reim, but her relations are only to that country and I highly doubt you'll be able to get an audience with her. Yunan's an option, but he's always traveling and you don't know when that guy's going to show up." There was a flashing expression on Sinbad's face that Sakura placed as disdain when mentioning the magi. "Then there's Aladdin, but he is still a novice who didn't even know what a magi was until I told him."

Sakura slumped back, rubbing her forehead. "In other words, there is absolutely nothing we can do."

"Don't say that I told you that I would help you get home and I will."

Sakura didn't say anything, still feeling Sinbad's gaze on her. She looked up at him, smiling slightly, causing him to jolt a little in his seat.

"W-What is it?"

Sakura shook her head, still smiling. "It's just, when I see you, Masrur or Ja'far, I keep remembering that I'm really back here….I haven't really had time to stop and think about it because of everything that was happening but now that I have a moment….I can't help but get all these odd feelings seeing all of you again."

Sinbad smiled as well, "Well for what it's worth, I've been feeling like that too. Ever since I saw you that night….." Sinbad looked down, closing his eyes in thought before turning back up to the girl he loved that has now become a woman. "We also need to talk about Badr as Esra, in regards to…..us."

Sakura stiffened, her heartbeat picked up his pace, as though it was trying to escape from her chest. "I figured as much,"

"It's just that we need to do something now that the truth's gotten out. These kinds of things won't stay quiet; especially with the audience we had." Sinbad was quick to point out. He became a little skeptic when he didn't get an immediate response, but he could tell that she was contemplating.

Finally, she spoke, "What are you suggesting?"

Sinbad paused. As if second guessing himself, he doubted Sakura would approve of what he was going to say next. "I want to officially claim Badr and Esra."

Sakura's response was immediate, "Sinbad, you can't do that. You know the implications if you do."

"Just as well as you do," Sinbad stated, running his hand over his face, "Badr's already all but claimed himself, and now nothing is going to stop word from spreading that I have children."

Sakura then gave him a deadpan expression, "Come on Sinbad. This can't possibly be the first time something like this happened."

Sinbad winced at her accurate assumption, he has had rumors like these spread in the past, the only difference between then and now was that it was true and the physical proof had been the appearance of Badr and Esra themselves. He couldn't keep this quiet for much longer, no matter how much Sakura wanted him too. "Listen, I know why you wouldn't want me to officiate them, but we can't undo what happened today. And we don't' know how long you're going to be here."

The pinkette kept her eyes fixated on her former lover as he stood up and made his way around to her. While it seemed that she was having an affinity to others' in this world, like Alibaba and Kougyoku, she felt like she was barely anything more than a stranger to those she had been the closest to. Ten years was a great period gap to close and she wasn't even sure if she wanted to attempt it. Everything felt out of courtesy and respect for the past, nothing more than that.

"Sinbad, this would just complicate things further," Sakura stated. "Officiating Badr and Esra would give them titles that come with being your children."

"I'm well aware, but when you look at it in retrospect; doing this could not possibly make things more complicated than they already are. If we decide to leave this as is, then rumors are only going to escalate and curiosity will grow, until Badr, Esra and you are forced under the light for everyone to see. This way it looks like we have nothing to hide."

Sakura threw her arms out, "Sinbad, we have plenty to hide! I have so many explanations to dish out and serve to my friends and children it's like a buffet. Now you want to add this on top of everything?"

"You know what's going to happen if I leave them as they are right now Sakura," Sinbad stated thoroughly.

Sakura paused. She only understood this kind of danger and question from spending so much time around royals whilst occupying this world. There was a very dark side to being royalty and even more so to be an 'illegitimate' royal. Hearing of Kougyoku and Kouha's experience as such, even when they were placed in the light. They were still shunned. Though Sakura doubted opportunity for this would touch Badr and Esra, it did make her think a little differently.

"I'll consider it, but until then reframe from doing anything that's going to make me want to kill you."

Sinbad raised an eyebrow, "What, you think I would do something without your consent?"

Sakura gave him a deadpan expression in return and Sinbad felt the corner of his mouth twitch upwards.

"Alright, alright, you have my word. I'll try and keep this as close as possible."

Sakura stood up, "That includes keeping my presence from the other's; at least until you return from Kou."

"Understood," Sinbad nodded.

Just as Sakura reached for the door, Sinbad called her, "Sakura wait,"

Hesitantly, the pinkette turned back around to face him, her stomach churning slightly, she forgot to breathe for a second and when she drew in, she barely made a sound.

"What is it?"

Sinbad swallowed softly, catching himself cautiously. This was something he felt would be an eventuality, but he didn't think that time would prolong it to the point where he was tired of waiting and at the same time, wanted the moment to pass by, forgotten.

"It's about Sindria….." he trailed carefully, but stopped when Sakura began to draw near and he tried to mask his expression as best his could under the conditions.

"What about Sindria? Is there something you haven't told me?" Sakura asked, it suddenly seemed as though she had stepped straight into a blizzard and was wondering why it was so cold.

"Sakura;" Again Sinbad's pause made a cold chill wash over Sakura, and Sinbad noticed this as well. That may have been what crafted his next actions. Lifting his head, he smiled lightly while throwing a curtain over the heaviness in his eyes. "Sindria has changed location."

Sakura frowned, "What do you mean?"

"Well, about a year after you left I relocated Sindria to the Southern Sea's, on a remote island near the Dark Continent." Sinbad waited a moment to allow the information he relayed to sink in so that he could continue, and once he saw Sakura's eyes widen as far as they could and his mouth slightly agape, he knew she wouldn't interrupt. "It's no longer a part of Parthevia's land,"

Sakura pointed a shaking finger up to him, her mouth opening and closing as she gasped for air, "Y-You're telling me that you-you actually rebuilt Sindria after a year?!"

Even in theory, such an accomplishment seemed impossible, but Sakura found that the word lost nearly all meaning when it came to Sinbad. Still, it had taken a lot of work, not to mention sacrifice just to establish Sindria the first time and now she was hearing he had managed to relocate and rebuild his country completely from the ground-up? She had to show her awe.

Sinbad nodded, and Sakura wasn't able to stop herself. "Why did you decide to do something like that?"

Sinbad closed his eyes, recalling the memory, he wished would burn away in the pyre the event had created, but there was a scar far too deep for him to forget and yet when he looked at Sakura now, he could not bring himself to show her this scar. He felt the urge to give an excuse.

"I wanted to start anew. I wanted to rule a country that I had created with my own hands-not one I bought. I wanted something that was mine from the beginning." Sinbad shrugged.

Sakura narrowed her eyes, she knew that Sinbad was not-so-subtly attempting to avoid the real reason behind his change of location for Sindria; because while Sinbad was impulsive, she did not think he could go to this extent. Then again people were complex, and even generalization wasn't a definite all the time. Although for Sinbad Sakura had come to realize something about Sinbad. He wanted whatever he didn't have.

'Perhaps he didn't have the independence he had hoped for when he was aligned with Parthevia,' even with Sakura's own reasoning, she found it loose, and difficult to swallow. But she couldn't bring herself to ask Sinbad what he was hiding. It wasn't her place anymore.

"Okay then," Sakura turned back around and heading to the door, "I'll talk to Esra about taking magic lessons and Badr should be done with his punishment and get his metal vessel back by the time you return."

Sinbad cocked his head to the side, "You confiscated his metal vessel as punishment?"

Sakura waved her hand as she opened the door, "There are a limited amount of ways to punish those children Sinbad."

The room went quiet after Sakura left, and Sinbad went back to the table to pour himself a glass of wine. Feeling particularly thirsty after that meeting, while he would have liked some liquid courage, he thought that Sakura would appreciate speaking to him as sober as possible.

A minute later, there was a knock on the door and Ja'far entered carrying a few scrolls. Already he had work when Balbadd hadn't even established its new form of state.

"Please tell me those can wait until tomorrow?" Sinbad asked, half-joking.

"If you are willing to lose more hours, then yes," Ja'far said, putting them down on the table, quietly glancing at Sinbad. "I saw Sakura leave. Did the two of you discuss everything that needed to be addressed?"

"Yes," Sinbad learned back against the sofa.

"Are you certain Sinbad?" Ja'far asked, and the room became eerily silent at the heavy implication.

"I told her we relocated," Sinbad said, still not looking at Ja'far. "That's all I told her,"

Ja'far drew in a breath, "Sin, this is not something you can hide from her. She has a right to know,"

"I know," Sinbad grumbled softly, running a hand over his face. "Just not now Ja'far. Sakura has enough on her mind without adding this to it. I'll tell her when the time is right."

Ja'far had to wonder when exactly that was.

"I can't give her more grief,"

* * *

When Sakura returned to the room, Badr and Esra had, to her astonishment, fallen asleep on the bed and she joined them, laying in between the two, holding both her children in her arms; reminding herself that they were here still. She had witnessed too many lose today and that struck fear, first upon hearing of Hakuyuu and Hakuren deaths (which still lingered in the back of her mind), then losing Cassim to the darkness.

'Don't worry though, as long as I'm here, I will never let anything like that happen to the two of you. I promise,' Sakura kissed both of their foreheads, careful not to wake them.

Sakura closed her eyes, thinking about what she was going to say to the other's regarding their situation. Yet her mind would slip away and take her back to her conversation with Sinbad and in regards to Sindria, it all just gave her a bad taste in her mouth. With the past that was continuing to grow and weigh on Sakura, she was starting to feel ready to buckle and collapse.

'I wonder what's he's hiding now,'

* * *

Balbadd woke to a brighter morning, as the people moved about with purpose and hopeful shines in their eyes while working and sifting through the remains of what was once a battlefield. Many were working to clear up the rubble, including the former members of the Fog Troupe. In contrast to the devastation surrounding them, the content atmosphere of the people was felt all over and almost everyone had a smile.

Alibaba and Sinbad were busy handling their own diplomatic and political matters that needed to be addressed and were working on the inside. Alibaba was already hosting a meeting in regard to the new g The palace was operating as the main venue for treating the injured and distributing food to everyone in the lines. Morgiana was one of the few helpings with the distribution. While, Sakura, Esra, Ino, and Hinata were treating the wounded. There were many injured during the commotion the other day.

Sakura smiled, removing her hand from a young boys face, fully healing an open gash would that would have scared had it been left. "Alright, you're all done."

"Thank you, miss!" Sakura ruffled the boy's hair before sending him off to get to her next patient. She craned her neck; she, Ino and Hinata had been up early to start treating all of the injured. There were more than they could count, but as the situation wasn't anything she was unfamiliar with, Sakura was able to assemble a group to assist her and her friends. The severely injured were to go to Ino, Sakura or Hinata to heal.

Sakura looked further down to her left where her daughter was also treating the injured, she insisted on helping despite Sakura's request that she doesn't overexert herself; especially after yesterday's battle. Her children had been fighting battles that Sakura didn't think they would until the two were at least genin-ninja in training. But as it was, the future exceeded Sakura's expectations; for better or worse was debatable.

Badr was with Alibaba and Aladdin, and most likely conducting the meeting with him; although the boy didn't have much experience, he was certainly adaptive and apparently could give good incentive and advice.

'He's as clever as he is cunning,'

It was not the best combination to deal with when raising the child that held those attributes, but at the same time, it would give Sakura a sense of pride. Knowing that her children saw things in a different light and they could make do on their own like they had when they were separated. She just hoped it wouldn't come to that again, because as a mother Sakura's confidence in them did not do much to tranquilize her concern when they were out of her sight.

Working into the early afternoon, most people had already been treated and were now lining up to be fed. Sakura sent Esra off a little earlier after noticing her daughter's fatigue from using her chakra and she went to help Morgiana hand out food to everyone.

Sakura walked up to Ino and Hinata, "Finished?"

"Yeah,"

"Yes," Hinata nodded.

Stretching her arms out, Sakura grinned. "Great, let's take a short break before we start again."

Ino and Hinata watched their friend walk off with a spring in her step; however, the two had not forgotten anything that happened yesterday and Sakura wasn't trying hard to hide the emotion in her eyes anytime she had a moment's rest.

"Do you think she's okay?"

* * *

Alibaba, Aladdin, and Badr stood outside of one of the palace balcony, overlooking Balbadd. The three boys had just come out of a meeting, led by Alibaba who was discussing the reformation of Balbadd. He started with the form of a temporary government that would keep things in order until they were able to prepare more permanent standings. Sinbad also had to be put to work on account of yesterday's announcement that Balbadd would be joining the Seven Seas Alliance.

Badr smiled, leaning over the balcony, "It looks like everything's finally coming together huh?"

"Yeah. Balbadd's rebuilding." Aladdin said with a smile.

Alibaba nodded, "Yeah, but the road is a long one."

Exhaling softly, Badr looked down at the rows of people lined up to receive food. He saw his sister down there helping with handing out, along with his mother, her friends, and Morgiana. Things finally felt like they were beginning to settle down.

Badr frowned, 'So why do I feel kinda uneasy?'

Badr's train of thought was stopped when he heard Alibaba hiss in pain and saw his friend swinging his arm around, attempting to pry off a red-eye snake that had sunk its fangs into his skin.

"AH! It's biting me!"

Badr grabbed the animal by its head, and when its jaw loosened he threw the snake across the balcony and watched it slither away.

Barkak heard the commotion and came to the balcony just after Badr threw the snake to the side. "I've never seen a snake like that before, but it doesn't seem to be poisonous."

Badr watched Alibaba blow on the two small indentations left, "You should still get that checked out by mom,"

"Yeah," Alibaba murmured, a little teary eyed.

A door right in front of the balcony where they all stood suddenly slammed open and a guard came rushing in, appearing very disoriented. "We have a problem! A huge armada from the Kou Empire has been spotted offshore!"

The four were so preoccupied getting out of the palace to see the armada for themselves, they didn't notice the snake slither away and turn into black ash.

* * *

News of this latest development caught everyone's attention, Sakura, Ino, Hinata, Sinbad, Masrur, Ja'far Badr, Esra, Aladdin, Alibaba, and Morgiana went to the docks with a few guards. Offshore they were able to see dozens of ships coming closer in a line. All wearing the same flags of the Kou Empire.

Alibaba glared up ahead, "Why are they here?"

"They probably dispatched the armada right at the start," Sinbad stated; although he as seemingly speaking in theory. "That way they would be able to take advantage of the rebellion and take control over Balbadd."

Sakura bit the tip of the thumb, "News must've gotten to them about what happened yesterday."

"But the rebellion was stopped!" Alibaba exclaimed.

"That's true, but it's not as if a new government has been formed as if yet," Ja'far stated, "If they insist that Balbadd is in an anarchic state, it will be difficult to refute them."

"And it's clear they were fully prepared to use force if negotiations fell through," Sakura folded her arm's. From what she recalled, Kougyoku was supposed to get married today, perhaps the other members of the royal family were also meant to attend the ceremony, and that would give them plausible cause to bring with them an armada. So if things went off course, they would continue to hold the upper hand. One of the things that the Kou Empire's leaders excelled at was strategic planning.

Sinbad looked at the former-prince of Balbadd, "Alibaba, you must make preparations to leave this country immediately. Kou will without a doubt try to gain control of the royalty here in Balbadd. And this time, they'll either take all rights from them and set up a puppet regime-

"Or you'll be executed, as a symbol of a tyrannical reign." Sakura finished. Already knowing the outcome of what might be.

"No way!" Alibaba exclaimed, "Are you telling me to just run away? And abandon this country?"

"Yes," Sinbad stated stoically.

Badr stepped in front of Sinbad, "What seriously?! After everything we went through, we're just going to run away?! That's impossible!"

Sakura reached out for her son. "Badr calm down-

"No way!" Badr shook his head.

Ino and Hinata held their lips tight watching the situation unfold quite disastrously. Sakura seemed to have a better grasp on the situation, however unstable it looked.

"I made a promise to Cassim!" Alibaba chided, clenching his fist tightly. "I made a promise to him and everyone who died that I would make this country a good place!"

"You can't do that if you're dead," Sakura attempted to reason, but she knew from experience when children had those loos in their eyes, they were unreasonable to an intolerable degree. And both Alibaba and Badr were mirroring one another.

"I won't run away," Alibaba declared, drawing his shattered blade and pointing it out at the sea. "If it comes down to it, I'd rather fight!"

Sinbad walked over to Alibaba and swiftly brought the side of his hand down on the back of the younger male's neck. The blow was powerful enough to knock him unconscious, catching him before he hit the ground.

"Forgive me, Alibaba. This is for the sake of you and your country."

Everyone had been shocked to silence; while Sinbad turned to Ja'far and Masrur, ordering them to make preparations to leave Balbadd as soon as possible. However, that broke Badr out of his own state.

"Why did you do that?!" Badr hissed at Sinbad, "Alibaba just wants to protect this country!"

Badr!" Sakura frowned

Badr shook his head vigorously, "Why won't you let him do that? Why won't you let us do that? We're strong enough with our metal vessels!"

Sinbad met the boy's eyes, "Metal vessels that neither of you have fully mastered yet."

"But-

"Okay, that's enough." Sakura stepped between the two. Once creating a gap, Sakura turned to Badr, "First off I'm not giving your metal vessel back and second-I want you to stop all this protesting. It's not going to change anything,"

"But we can't just-

"Am I going to have to knock you out too?" Sakura interjected, holding up her hand.

"I wouldn't mind seeing that," Esra muttered softly to Morgiana.

"Mom, you have connections to these guys, can't you do something?" Badr pressed.

Sakura shook her head, "It's not that simple Badr."

After what happened yesterday, Sakura didn't feel up for anymore encounters with Kou, case it should turn into an encounter with Al-Thamen. It's what made her so wary of that armada.

"Personal relationships don't always coincide with political dilemmas; if anything it could make things worse," Sinbad added.

Badr didn't say anymore but show his disdain for their situation, slamming his fists into the ground.

Ja'far looked out at the sea, filled with ships and despite the warm weather, he knew one thing.

'A storm's coming.'

* * *

Everyone else regardless of personal preference went along and followed Sinbad's orders to prepare to leave the country. Aladdin, Morgiana, and Esra were especially quiet during this time. Although Sinbad requested all of them to get ready to leave as soon as possible, there hadn't been many preparations needed on their part. It was just a matter of ensuring the ship was prepared to carry them across the sea and could host them for that period of time. Once that was settled, they departed.

Alibaba was placed in one of the cabins; in order to keep him from doing anything rash Sinbad's plan was to make sure he didn't wake up until the ship reached Sindria. Sakura chose to keep that information from Badr until they were at sea, in case he chose to have a tantrum.

Sinbad was going to take a different ship to go to the Kou Empire on Alibaba's behalf. He was the only one who could be trusted to go and negotiate without much worry.

Watching the ship from the harbor, Sakura observed as everyone finished stepping off the platform onto it. Everyone had already boarded, with Aladdin and Badr sulking on the deck with Esra and Morgiana who were told to keep an eye on them.

"Everything's good to go," Sinbad said coming down the platform. "Just remember to keep Alibaba sedated till you reach land."

Sakura crossed her arms, "Not a lot of places he'd be able to go when waking up in the middle of the ocean, but I'll do that. Might have to give Badr a dose just to get him to sleep until we dock again as well,"

Sinbad laughed, "You've definitely had your hands full with them huh?"

Sakura smiled slightly, looking away from Sinbad. "Without a doubt, but you love them anyway."

The sound of the wind washed over the two, the voices of those already onboard became distant.

"Well; good luck in Kou." Sakura started making her way up the platform.

"Hey Sakura," Sinbad waited for her to turn around before he spoke again, "See you later."

Sakura's straight face became warm, softening her hard expression. "Whatever, idiot king."

..

..

..

..

..

..

Balbadd's port became small as the ship sailed further away. The group had to move from a different area so as not to attract attention from the fleet moving towards the country. Esra, Morgiana, Badr, and Aladdin moved to one end of the boat, sitting a circle together; since Sakura told them to leave Alibaba since she was concerned someone would attempt to wake him. While Sakura, Ino, and Hinata leaned against the end of the boat, watching the sea. Because things were on such short notice, Sakura had only just received the opportunity to talk and tell them of her meeting with Sinbad.

"I'm sorry; we're going to have to wait a little longer than I expected," Sakura sighed.

"It's okay," Hinata said, resting her hand on Sakura's shoulder. "We knew this wouldn't be easy, but we'll definitely find a solution together."

"Thanks, Hinata,"

"A few months huh?" Ino trailed looking down over the edge of the boat before smiling back at the pinkette. "Well if we're going to be here that long; we can spend the time picking at all the details of your story with this world and the people in it. I want to know everything you caught onto while you were here! Right to where you managed to catch Sinbad,"

Sakura rolled her eyes, feeling lighter with the loss of tension, "Yeah sure; try your best."

"Oh, you bet I will Forehead."

Though smiling, Sakura wasn't ignorant of her friend's feelings. They were obviously missing their home, their world, their friends, their husbands, their children. She knew because she had that same experience. But this wasn't a problem that presented a simple solution, not with all the obstacles that were standing before them. However, that did not deter Sakura's determination.

'I'll get us back,'

"Anyway, tell us about this country we're going to!" Ino exclaimed.

Sakura sighed.

Ja'far and Masrur watched the two groups, keeping a distance on another part of the ship where they were able to overlook everything going on.

"What do you think?" Masrur asked suddenly, surprising his comrade since the male Fanalis wasn't the most verbal and more often than not his responses were snarky and blunt.

"About what?" Ja'far asked in a soft undertone.

"Well, we're bringing them back but with the short notice…."

Ja'far understood what his younger colleague was implying. Their country held a lot of individuals that were familiar with Sakura. Sinbad had already called his two generals to the side and requested that they keep her reappearance quiet until he returned to help keep the rumors contained. They didn't think it to be such a difficult task since they would be sending two more generals with Sinbad to Kou; and with their king absent, everyone would be very busy handling more duties which would prevent the chance of an encounter, but that wasn't the only thing that concerned them.

There was something that they had addressed with Sinbad again before leaving Balbadd; something that had more to do with the past and Sakura, as well as their present. However, Sinbad had instantly rejected their offer to take the initiative.

" _Neither of you are to allow her to find out about 'that' incident,"_

Those were his words and while Ja'far and Masrur had always been loyal and ready to agree to any command given to them by their leader, as their affinity to him had been solid since their meeting. They could not forget that those feelings and a strong bond of loyalty were shared ten years ago. Between Sakura and Sinbad. It seemed that even after all this time; though the two were acting aloof towards one another, Ja'far and Masrur were still able to place them in the same standing.

"What do you want to do?" Masrur asked.

Ja'far silently stared at the three women chatting and he was suddenly taken back to a past of one of the most painful periods of his life.

The day Sinbad informed them Sakura had left them.

 _The second Ja'far laid eyes on Sinbad that morning, his stomach twisted painfully with an anxiousness he didn't think would come without reason. Outwardly, there wasn't much description to unravel Sinbad, his attire was properly set, his hair in its usual style, and he walked with plain certainty. Yet Ja'far's senses were sharp enough to understand that something had happened. All because of the look in Sinbad's eyes, that seemed to have suddenly lost its light. Also, he seemed to be trying too hard to behave seriously._

 _And when Sinbad saw Ja'far, he walked over to him and calmly spoke without greeting. "Ja'far, I need you to get everyone together in my office."_

 _The 'everyone' Sinbad had been in reference to was Hinahoho, Rurumu, Masrur, Sharrkan, Mystras, Pipirika, Vittel, Mahad, and Drakon. While Ja'far hadn't been able to disclose the purpose for the meeting, he had made everyone aware beforehand that something seemed off with Sinbad. He didn't miss that Sakura wasn't present either, but that just brought the assumption the two might have had one of their many falling-outs. A regular occurrence._

 _Sinbad stood in front of everyone as they gathered in his office, his friends waited patiently for him to respond. He didn't take the scenic route to the primary point when he addressed them._

" _Sakura has left."_

 _The silence was so darkening, it was as if time itself had stopped for hours. Sinbad waited for the inevitable thawing of the frozen figures, once they were able to fully process what Sinbad stated._

" _What do you mean, she left Sinbad?" Rurumu asked carefully observing the young man._

 _Sinbad looked at the group individually before speaking again, his voice void of any emotion. "Last night, Sakura left to return to her home. In another world."_

 _And with that everything was revealed, Sinbad spoke without interruption as his friends listened to the tale of the pinkette who had come from another world and was lost in theirs. Sinbad told them of the conditions she had to meet in order to return, of the shattered mirror she had to restore. The shards she needed to gather from djinn's and metal vessel users._

 _The explanation he gave was so clear, so simple and decipherable that it was easy to swallow; if it hadn't been for the one hard fact that came with it._

 _"Sakura going back to her world means she will never return to this one," Sinbad told them, his head held up and eyes visible the whole time. It was nothing in comparison to when Sinbad announced Serendine's absence._

" _She's really….." Drakon trailed trembling._

 _"She's gone," Sinbad confirmed, terrifyingly calm. Already the storm of sadness that overcame everyone was overwhelming, their grief was like a natural disaster appearing without warning. Tears were beginning to form in the eyes of his comrades and sorrow was heavily etched on their faces._

 _Sinbad knew what he needed to do then and when he spoke, his voice remained strong. "Sakura has always had her own goal from the beginning, but for years she has put it off. Seeing her family again, her friend's. For a time, I thought she was willing to abandon all of that; her life and everything she knew but I realized that Sakura has her own destiny she wants to follow. She's wanted to go home for so long."_

" _This is her home!" Masrur exclaimed, his eyes obscured by his bangs, his form trembling next to Sharrkan whose tears were already falling._

" _I know that this is hard. Believe me, I really do understand, but you have to realize this; Sakura has been putting aside her whole life for the sake of our dreams, our goals and most of all, for all of us. She's taken us far, carried more than her fair share of weight around here; now it's time we pick up what she has left."_

 _Mystras took a step forward, his eyes glistening with unshed tears. "How can you be so-so-nonchalant!? You're standing there and telling us that Sakura's left us for good! Don't you care?!"_

" _Of course I do!" Sinbad said strongly, still holding his head high, "But you must consider how it would have felt to be in Sakura's situation. To suddenly be ripped away from your home, to have that constant longing to return to your loved ones. Sakura's circumstances are different from the rest of ours. She has always had reason to go back, but at the same time, she was constantly thinking of all of us. Sakura has sacrificed and given everything to our cause and that's what I want everyone to remember as we move ahead of this. To our future. Because if we can't do that, then all that time and devotion Sakura has surrendered, will be for nothing."_

" _She was going to be our queen," Hinahoho said after another long pause. That just brought on another tidal wave. To which Sinbad had to counter._

" _Sakura chose the path she wanted to walk and I will never hold that decision against her. Like her, the rest of you also have the option of turning away without fear of resentment but know this fact. This decision she made-it wasn't on a whim, and it wasn't without despair or difficulty, for her as well as myself. And I know that no matter how much time passes, I will always hold her in high regards-as I believe the rest of you would."_

Sinbad's words cut deeply into all of them, and the acceptance of what occurred wasn't something easily overcome however with Sinbad still there to hold the platform, everyone was able to continue and accept Sakura's decision without any resentment for the pinkette. And those who believed they did resent her, later had an epiphany that it was merely the overwhelming grief of losing one of their closets comrades. It wasn't hard for Ja'far to understand why; everyone had come to love Sakura. She was more than family. It was as simple as that. And those feelings were so great that it reached the point where even if she had betrayed them-no one would really mind. Because it was her.

This event had also triggered a greater sense of loyalty towards Sinbad, who had told all of them they were free to choose the paths they wanted to walk and did not have to feel obliged to follow him. However, it was clear that all anyone wanted then was to follow their king and stand beside him; while they grieved for the only women they would ever consider worthy of being queen.

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

It's hard to take in a moment when the present's steady flow endures a disruption to its rhythm. Just as Ino, Hinata, Badr, and Esra were unable to take in the grandeur of Sindria, and Sakura wasn't able to become lost in the thoughts of her past because Alibaba awoke just before the island was in sight and was in a rage. Especially after Ja'far told him where they were going, how they had kept him sleeping until they reached Sindria. Though what really angered him was hearing that Sinbad had gone to Kou himself, to negotiate with the emperor in regards to Balbadd's state. A responsibility, Alibaba had wanted to take on himself. That anger had then mixed in with helplessness when Ja'far pointed that Sinbad did not have to save both Alibaba and Balbadd. That had set for a quiet journey to the palace from the dock and Sakura hadn't said much either.

The palace stood on the tallest point of the island, where it could be seen all the way from the harbor. Just as before, it was a near replica of the previous palace, preceded by a courtyard of exceptional grandeur with columns of marble, granite, and porphyry. The minarets standing at different heights, symmetrical to their opposite sides with the main dome in the center of it all. There was a great number of veranda's, reaching the uppercase of the structure; lined with red carpet to quiet footsteps and held by pillars. The interior wasn't subtle either, the designs and patterns on the walls, lined in bright color, suiting to Sinbad's flashy taste. The white marble and woodwork with simple designs in ivory.

It was nostalgic.

Alibaba immediately took to his room, followed by Aladdin, Morgiana, Badr, and Esra. It was apparent Alibaba's depression was contagious and at this point, Sakura chose to let her children be for now. She warned them they would be dealt their penalty, but she wanted to get her bearing back before doing anything else. She had been wary since arriving, case she should accidentally see someone that might recognize her. Thankfully, nothing of the sort occurred as they were able to enter the palace grounds with no issues.

Sakura, Ino and Hinata were also given their own rooms, the aesthetics in the grandest aspects that was befitting to Sinbad's tastes. All too familiar for Sakura, but completely foreign to Ino and Hinata. It didn't take very long for them to settle at a table placed in the center of the guest room.

Ino caressed the velvet sofa and sighed, "Okay, I could definitely take staying here a couple of months."

"This isn't a vacation Ino," Sakura reminded her.

"Speak for yourself." The blonde muttered, grabbing one of the fresh fruit from the bowel set on the table, one which she couldn't identify, but one bite was enough to make her take another after finishing the first. Hinata took a different type, but also seemed seduced by the exotic fruit.

Sakura leaned back, "I'm glad you two like this place because we're going to be here for a while."

"You really think king Sinbad can help us find a way back Sakura?" Hinata asked.

"Honestly, I'm not sure but I believe he's going to do everything in his power to help. As things are right now, it's better to be here than wandering aimlessly around this world." Sakura told them, starring up at the ceiling. "I'm just going to spend my time dishing out Badr and Esra's punishment; while trying to keep myself scarce-I want to avoid running into anyone else I know here till Sinbad gets back."

Ino cocked her eyebrow, "No offense, but that didn't work out the first time you tried it when you ran into your ex-lover."

Sakura groaned, "Yeah, Judar and Kougyoku were also an unexpected surprise. But the worst was finding out that the Kou Empire is aligned with Al-Thamen."

"Other worlds, former lovers, secret children, special powers, dangerous towers, evil organizations-your life's better than the Make-Out Series."

"Thanks for that Ino," Sakura shuddered.

"Anytime Forehead." Ino slapped her friend's back.

There was silence before three started laughing hysterically but quieted when a soft knock on the door interrupted.

"Come in," Sakura called.

Ja'far entered, giving a slight bow, his hands tucked into his sleeves. "Pardon the interruption. I hope you all find your lodging's comfortable."

"Heavenly,"

"It's wonderful," Hinata replied.

"I'm glad to hear that," Ja'far said; "Though I'm afraid the children have barricaded themselves in a single room for the time being. We wanted to know if you wanted anything done."

"Don't worry, I'll drag them out if they don't leave on their own later." Sakura waved. It was going to take some time before they were accustomed to the sudden change in their situation. Sakura wasn't without compromise but she had limits as well.

"In that case, Sakura,"

The pinkette was immediately perched when she heard Ja'far address her, his formality still standing, but there was a change in his expression that reminded Sakura of when he was a child.

"Could I have a word?"

* * *

Something server was going on. Sakura knew that the instant she looked into Ja'far's eyes. It was something he didn't want to alert Ino and Hinata to though. Because it was something meant only for her. Ja'far didn't say anything after Sakura agreed to follow Ja'far out, nor did she pry him when he led her out of the palace grounds. She was waiting for him to speak. But Ja'far remained silent until they began trudging up a high hill, a good distance from the crowded structures, where very few would take the effort to explore.

Sakura noticed that the nearer they drew to the top, the slower Ja'far seemed to become. As if he was hoping to withhold their journey. And it was something that made Sakura's stomach twist. Then he suddenly came to a halt.

"Sakura,"

"Yes, Ja'far?" Sakura called, watching his back.

"Sinbad said that he relocated Sindria right?"

"Yes, though his response as to why was a bit ambiguous."

Ja'far paused again, he knew that his next words and actions were probably going to earn him a lot of discord from Sinbad once he returned but he could not bring himself to turn back now.

"There is a reason for that," Ja'far pointed in front of him, "Its right on top of that hill."

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

 _The heroic souls of the Founders of the Kingdom of Sindria rest here._

* * *

 **There you go. I just barely managed to write this with everything else on my plate, but I know that when my exams start it's going to be harder to write. Speaking of which; I wanted to let all my readers know that this story is honestly one of the hardest pieces for me because of all the elements that are combining and being revealed. So it takes a while for me to write since I end up double checking. But I hoped you enjoyed this chapter anyway and look forward to the next.**

 **DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW!**


	21. Present: Preparations

**I'M BACK!**

 **After weeks, I have finally managed to get this chapter done. I've been going back and forth between this story and Crossroads of Fate but I got this done today and wanted to post it as soon as possible.**

 **Hope you enjoy this chapter.**

The salty smell of the sea, and spicy tang in the air, the bustling of the vibrant citizens in town. Sinbad missed the taste of home, his kingdom Sindria. After being away for months, he couldn't help his touch of homesickness while in Kou. He had remained guarded throughout his visit, despite keeping a calm demeanor while in the presence of the emperor. He hadn't encountered the empress during his visit and he wasn't complaining. His only concern now was what would follow.

What also had him anticipating his return home were those who would be there when he got back. He couldn't help the thought slip into his mind that it would be a repeat of the past before Sakura would disappear. All he had to do was look away for a second and when he turned back she would be gone. Only two of his generals were aware of her presence; that was Ja'far and Masrur. Sinbad requested it stay that way until he got back and could handle the ordeal personally.

That was why, as soon as his negotiations with the Kou emperor was settled, he did not waste any time to get on a boat and return home. He did his best not to show how impatient he was to return to his kingdom, and he was able to finally bring things to a close for the moment. Even accepting a request from the emperor to assist with the teachings of one of the princes, without a fight or questioning.

While he managed to fool the emperor of his impatience, his generals that had accompanied him on this journey were not as convinced. His general, the prince of Sasan and younger brother of his former general Mystras, Spartos had voiced his concerns that Sinbad appeared to be a bit disoriented. Then there was his general Sharrkan, who was certain something was weighing heavily on Sinbad's mind-especially after he had politely refused the emperor's offer to stay long enough for a banquet with entertainment and wine at his disposal.

Sinbad just explained to the two that they needed to return to Sindria as quickly as possible because there were certain matters that still needed to be dealt with regarding their new guests in which he only really mentioned the dungeon capturer Alibaba and magi Aladdin, subtly bringing up Badr and Esra as part of a set of two dungeon capturers and two magic users in need of tutorage and a Fanalis girl. He managed to divert Sharrkan's attention by informing that he wanted him to be the one to teach Alibaba and Badr swordplay. Sinbad had thought he might have been able to confess to Spartos and Sharrkan with regards to Sakura and her-their children, but his throat went dry on his first attempt. He realized it wouldn't be wise to reveal something of this stature when they were on another continent needing to focus on diplomatic issues.

Setting off early and taking the quickest course home, Sinbad and his generals had docked in Sindria in the early hours of the morning with only the briefest flicker of light visible in the sky. Even so, the bells rang throughout the kingdom to call out for his return and awakened many. Reaching the palace, his guards were lined in preparation to greet him upon his return, his servants bowed in respect on the other side. Ja'far stood on the end, greeting him with the respect one gives a king but with the smile of a close friend.

"Welcome back, my king."

Sinbad returned the greeting with a smile, in understanding "Thanks for watching over the place in my absence."

* * *

"How are Alibaba and the other's doing?" Sinbad asked as he and his generals walked across the hall. Ja'far discretely glanced behind him, without looking over his shoulder back at Sharrkan and Spartos. It was obvious that Sinbad had not informed his subordinates the details of what occurred back in Balbadd, because Ja'far was certain that they wouldn't be able to keep their composure.

"For about a month he was in a constant rage, along with Aladdin…..and the others but they were settled quickly enough with a bit of help." The look in Ja'far's eyes told Sinbad exactly who he was referring to.

"I see," Sinbad stared ahead of him, "When they awaken, summon them as soon as possible so that I can discuss my meeting with the Kou."

Ja'far nodded, "As you wish."

Sinbad then glanced carefully back at Sharrkan and Spartos before whispering silently to Ja'far, "And how have things been regarding 'that' matter in Balbadd?"

Ja'far responded in an equally soft voice, "Rumors are ghosting around already but Masrur and I have intercepted any information and messages to the other's that would have solidified those rumors. Though it's harder to do that with civilians. Especially those traveling from Balbadd….Sinbad, they are not going away like the others. It needs to be sorted before any profound tales are added to this truth,"

Sinbad gave a slight nod, "I understand,"

Before Sinbad seemed ready to conclude their discussion, for now, Ja'far spoke again,

"And for the time being, I'm afraid there's another matter you may want to urgently address…."

Sinbad gave Ja'far a pointed look, and he saw the apologetic glint in his vizier's eyes. "I'm sorry, but I couldn't leave this pending for your return."

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

Mornings in Sindria were glorious, the air would peak with cold no longer than an hour before the warmth of the sun would settle over everything. It felt useless to wear layers because of this since it would turn out to be nothing more than extra fabric to drape around. Which was why Sakura just wore her regular attire instead when she came out every morning before the sun rose. She could feel the dew seep into her clothes while she knelt on the grass, her hands clasped tightly together with her head bowed deeply. In front of a stone tablet placed on top of a hill, far from the melodious atmosphere of Sindria. Where she could hear nothing but the wind running sorrowfully through grass and trees.

The world was indeed cruel.

 _ **The heroic souls of the Founds of Sindria rest here.**_

 _Sakura couldn't feel anything, not the warmth of the sun, the slight breeze that carried that warmth, nor the soft grass that soothed the skin instead of making it itch as she fell to her knees. Her entire body went numb and all she could hear was a ringing in her ears._

 _Ja'far stood behind her at a distance, from where she would be able to still hear his voice. "It was the day of Sindria's opening ceremony. Before the even barely began the country was plunged into a war against Parthevia."_

 _It was clear that Ja'far was trying to keep the vivid images at bay when he told her of the events that occurred ten years ago. But while he explained, Ja'far himself had been taken back to that dreadful day. In which everything they had strived for the last few years together, had been crushed nearly instantaneously. What was meant to be a joyous day of celebration had turned into the worst day of their lives. The screams ringing all around while people were evacuated. The smell of smoke and blood that filled the air and suffocated anyone in its path._

 _The confidence that had built from the ordeals everyone had endured to build this country, crushed in a moment as they drove into a war with Parthevia. It had honestly been an astounding surprise for both sides. Neither was expecting to become foes that day, quite the opposite but it happened._

 _And the reason was even more shocking._

" _Princess Serendine had come back to Sindria that day, but it was not with good intentions. She had used her djinn Zepar to make Sinbad decree war against Parthevia."_

 _It had happened like this, when the celebrations were high and Sinbad stepped out to formally present himself as king, instead of a moving speech, everyone was struck with a declaration of war. But Sinbad had not been conscious of this when he made the announcement before attacking the former Parthevia general Barbarossa. It was only later on that they found out what had really happened to him during the ordeal and it had to do with princess Serendine._

 _Zepar's ability was sound magic. But there was more to it than that as everyone discovered on that day. Like in the dungeon, Zepar's metal vessel holder had the ability to manipulate their target and bend their will after hitting them with his sound waves and Sinbad had been the target at that time. Then Sakura remembered her battle with Sinbad and Serendine. That was when Serendine had planted Zepar inside of Sinbad's mind to control him._

" _But it was not all Serendine's doing," Ja'far told Sakura as the pinkette remained speechless. "Judar had played a big hand in this as well. In the end, he betrayed both princess Serendine and Sinbad. A battle broke loose and that was when we really became aware of Al-Thamen."_

 _When Sakura's shoulders began to shake, Ja'far knew that he should bring this story to its climax before Sakura decided to turn away from the story. He did not detail the battles too much, only who was involved, who had survived and more importantly who hadn't._

" _Mystras, Mahad, Vittel, Rurumu and so many others…they gave everything to protect Sindria but they did not survive the battle to see the new one."_

 _Ja'far felt his heart pain with every beat as if it was being gripped in his chest as he heard the most pain-filled screams of the pinkette in front of the tablet. Her head hung low as the ground swallowed her tears and the wind carried her cries._

 _Sakura felt a hand rest on her shoulder, and she knew by its weight and size that it was not Ja'far's but someone larger. She was brought up from the ground into a warm embrace that she couldn't find the strength to return as her body refused to function. But she was able to continue to cry._

 _Masrur kept a blank face as he held the pinkette in his arms, mimicking the way she had held him when he was a child. He knew Ja'far didn't want to delay revealing this to her and so he had waited for him to give the explanation as the older male had always been better in a verbal sense. And knowing what was likely to come, he decided to wait._

 _To comfort the person who had looked after him as a mother would her child._

Sakura felt as if she had been ripped apart after listening to Ja'far. She couldn't stop herself from realizing that this had all happened when she was not there and she found herself sinking into the thoughts of what if. She was digging a hole of despair, going further when she thought of the individuals who were no longer a part of this world and was ready to throw herself into the emptiness in front of her. She probably would have as well.

Had she not already endured such pain.

So on the first day, when she returned to the palace no one could even tell she had cried. She kept her face blank and her eyes seemed lifeless. For a month, she remained like this.

Choosing to keep Ino and Hinata in the dark about this past. As well as Badr and Esra. Due to her condition, Ja'far had taken up the role of tutoring Badr and Esra as Rurumu had tutored, Sakura, Sinbad and himself.

He had also tried to ensure Ino and Hinata were kept entertained as any welcomed guests at the palace were. They were offered tours, gifts, and much more. Being in a new land, never mind a new world would pique anyone's interest and they were more than happy to accept the offers. There was much that piqued their interest in this world. They even sat in the lessons with Badr and Esra at times to learn how to read and write in this worlds illustrations. Esra and Morgiana spent a lot of time together, mostly training with Masrur. And Alibaba, Badr, and Aladdin spent their time together. But mostly, the five had become exceptionally close and even started sharing a room come the second month of their time in Sindria.

Needless to say, time eluded them all.

As did Sakura's condition, until it was no longer on the surface of her being, but buried deep within her.

Since then, Sakura had been coming every morning to the tablet set in honor of those who were lost during the battle to pray to the souls that embodied the people dear to her. It was an opportunity for her to reminisce freely and perhaps let her feelings pour. Until she was finally able to remind herself and believe that this was all a matter of the past, a past that could not be reversed. She couldn't detach herself from the situation when she told herself this, but it was her best source of comfort for her damaged heart.

Finishing with a final prayer, Sakura raised her head but when she opened her eyes, even without turning around, the way the rukh began to flutter was all the indication she needed to know that she was no longer alone. She also knew there were few people in this world that could make the rukh flutter this way.

"Sinbad,"

"Sakura,"

Sinbad kept his distance, watching the pinkette's back. After Ja'far told him where Sakura was, he didn't need further explanation and took off immediately just as the sun reached its peak. He didn't even think what he would say, how he would remedy this truth he had hidden from her. But still, Sinbad pushed forward without delaying his steps. He was almost tempted to draw his djinn just to reach the memorial.

Once she was in sight, once he was certain she was still here, he didn't move, because he did not know what to do next.

The minutes that passed were like hours, but neither had moved. This mimicked their previous meeting all over again, and there wouldn't be anyone to break them from each other. The only defense they had at this point was the fact that they couldn't see the other's face.

"I intended to tell you when I returned, I'm so-

"I know," Sakura cut him off gently, her head hung low but Sinbad knew that she was staring at the tablet "You don't have to apologize. There were enough dramatics to deal with at the time, so I can understand why you wouldn't want to tell me. In fact, I should be grateful you didn't. I appreciate the extended period I was given to gather myself."

"I know what you mean. It's not a memory I enjoy revisiting," Sinbad admitted, glancing at the tablet. "But I wouldn't want to forget either. That's why we made this memorial, to commemorate them."

Sakura exhaled softly, her throat was becoming dry but there were no tears in her eyes. "I'm sure they were brave,"

"Yes," Sinbad confirmed strongly. "Till the end."

"The devastation of war is great," Sakura said with a bitter familiarity in her voice that Sinbad barely caught. "And when it ends, victory seems irrelevant to those who manage to live through it. You're merely grateful to survive. Regardless of the outcome. Those images are burned into your memory, like a scar that hurts when you look at it. To think that you all went through that when I was gone….."

"Sakura….."

Sinbad halted when he saw the pinkette flinch, taking it as an indication not to draw any closer to her. Because he could tell, she didn't want him near her.

"I know I couldn't be there. I know there's no logic in feeling guilty of events that took place when I had left long before. I know there's no reason to blame myself." Sakura looked down at her open palm, "But it didn't change how I felt when Ja'far told me about this war that destroyed Sindria. It didn't stop the anger I felt towards myself. It didn't change that I struggled to even look at Ja'far and Masrur for almost a month after that. And it doesn't change the fact that I've been dreading to face you since then."

Sinbad had heard enough.

"Sakura. What happened to Sindria was on account of my own decisions, no one else's. And certainly not you when you weren't even there." Sakura flinched but kept her back facing Sinbad. But she already knew what he wanted and that he wouldn't take another step towards her. "I can't say that I didn't lose spirit in your absence, but I was not so blinded by grief that it clouded my judgment. I know what I did and I have accepted the consequences. I will not make excuses, nor put the blame on anyone else. This sin is mine to bare."

Sakura couldn't stop the words to come out of her mouth before her mind registered what they were,

"And if I stayed, it would have been mine as well."

Sinbad couldn't comment on that statement, because he knew it would have been true but at the same time, he didn't want Sakura to continue like this. "Then you definitely made the right decision leaving."

"Did I?" Sakura asked herself more than Sinbad.

"Yes," Sinbad took a step closer to Sakura, "With the way, we were back then, and everything that happened. You might have ended up hating me. Since I was already causing you to suffer."

Sakura let out a choked sound like something was caught in her throat and she turned her heel. Barely a step forward and she stopped, already caught in Sinbad's embrace. Her arms were lame, as she lifted them it was as if they were not her own, curling under Sinbad's arms, she realized how broad he had become. And for that moment they forgot the distance time had driven between them. The consequences of the past, and what the weight they were meant to always bare evaporated instantly. In a single embrace, they remembered only one thing.

"I could never hate you,"

For what felt like a lifetime, Sakura and Sinbad remained as they were, neither able to say anything more to one another until time had brought Sakura back and she finally stepped away. With a brief nod of her head, she turned and began to leave. And right then, he understood. What she said to him was going to have to be enough, that moment needed to be enough because for now, they would have to keep their eyes averted from each other, and focused on what lies ahead. Meeting against the odds once more was merely a sign of the same danger lurking over them. Because despite the brief reveling in the embers that still burned inside of them, they were now under reduced circumstances. Sinbad's lips tug upwards. He's always been able to make the most out of anything.

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

 _Badr was walking through nothing but whiteness, he continued on and on for what felt like hours. A trudge to nowhere. He was in snow, but he couldn't feel it, his feet refusing to sink, the cold nonexistent. Finally, something appeared in the distance. Something new. Something different._

 _He wanted to run, but it wasn't possible. Despite the suspense, he reached the oddity-which turns out wasn't an oddity at all but a mirror in a black frame._

 _Badr saw his reflection, so natural it was as if the image was another person. Convincing enough that it made him reach forward, but when his fingers contacted the image the mirror began to crack from where he touched and the slowly crept along the rest of the mirror. From the cracks, a blackness started oozing and when Badr looked at his reflection; he became paralyzed with terror._

 _His eyes were no longer that shimmering emerald but red with black sclera, with cracks spreading across his face in a webbing manner. But it was not just his appearance that was shifting._

 _His feelings were becoming dark, his heart felt like it had stopped beating; a pain shot through his chest as if something sharp was hitting it over and over again. The same feeling he experienced before he woke up in the dungeon._

 _And suddenly he felt himself sinking, the image around him changed too quickly, his body no longer standing upright, but moving against his will. He couldn't breathe, and his sight was blurry but still, he could see it._

 _The small bubbles appearing from time to time; but there was no coldness piercing him despite the pieces of ice that rose to the surface, to the light, the sky where he desperately reached for, filled with dread. Yet he couldn't move as he wanted. The urgency for air apparent and yet he still could not take in as he took in the images that felt like they would be his last._

 _It was like a pressure compressed his chest, forcing his lungs to burn as if on fire. Desperation and fear taking over everything._

 _He opened his mouth, wanting to scream but without the strength, a string of bubbles released. And yet there was so much missing from this. The details he could hardly forget. The piercing cold, the numbing taste on his tongue from the water that filled him, the way his thoughts and senses slowly faltered as he slipped into darkness. Only now he wasn't slipping. He was conscious without breath._

 _His fingers twitched in front of him, as he held his hand up desperate for someone to grasp it._

 _And then a shadowy figured appeared, reaching down, pulling him forward and he could breathe again._

With a deep and desperate gasp for air, Badr sat up pushing off the covers from his body. The small rays of sunlight seeping in through the crack in the curtains next to the bed warmed him enough. He rubbed his eyes and looked around, realizing that he wasn't in his own bed. There were several figures sleeping still soundly around him. At the foot of the large and sinking bed, he remembered then what had happened and where he was.

In another country, in another world, more importantly; in his father's country.

Badr wiped the sweat from his forehead, trying to erase the memory of that dream he had. Which had been occurring often since arriving in this world.

Close to the foot of the bed, slept Esra and Morgiana, Aladdin closer to the middle and he and Alibaba near the top. Although none of them were actually sleeping properly at the head of the bed, instead formed almost a circle.

'That dream….' Badr looked over at Alibaba, at his arm where the snake had bitten him. He kept it wrapped, despite insisting that the wound was fine.

Without any real consciousness he reached for Alibaba's arm but a brief knock at the door brought him back quickly and he retracted. The door opened and Ja'far appeared, waking the rest of the sleeping individuals.

"Good morning everyone, I have a message…."

* * *

Sinbad's presence stirred his country when the mornings last light had peaked and all eyes were guaranteed to be open and ears sharpened, he called on Alibaba, Aladdin, Badr and Esra to his office where he would give them the report on his negotiation with the Kou Empire. The greetings were brief and sentiments were kept to a minimum.

"I'll start with the results," Sinbad said, leaning forward, his elbows rested on his desk as he spoke. "The Kou Empire will place Balbadd under its rule but they will recognize Balbadd's rights as a republic."

The news brought visible relief to the three boys in front of him, especially now that the rights of the people of Balbadd were a certainty and their efforts and battles had finally shown promise. However, Sinbad explains that the extraterritorial rights of Balbadd were not as secure. But it did not hinder Alibaba much.

"Thank you,"

Sinbad smiled, "Oh? So you're thanking me?"

"While you were gone, I had a lot of time to think but I just couldn't come up with a plan better than what you did," Alibaba bowed forward slightly, "Therefore, I thank you."

"What do you plan to do now Alibaba?" Sinbad asked.

"I think it would be great if I could quietly support Balbadd from the outside,"

Sinbad's expression turned down, "Unfortunately that might prove to be difficult. The organization has its eyes on you."

Alibaba glanced at Aladdin and Badr before turning back to Sinbad, "The Organization?"

Sinbad nodded, "I've mentioned the occurring abnormalities in this world before. Wars occur more frequently, poverty and discrimination are getting worse. Those things are not all happening purely by coincidence. They've been contrived to happen by a certain organization. We call them Al-Thamen,"

Alibaba gasped, "Then what happened in Balbadd…..

"Yes, the man who threw Balbadd's economy into chaos, the man who controlled the black djinn and the ones who pull Judar's strings as well as the one who brought you all to this world, are a part of Al-Thamen,"

The four remained silent, recollecting on the events that seemed unfortunate, but subsequently by design of Al-Thamen. Badr and Esra especially seemed to be thinking their hardest.

"Why are they after us though?" Esra asked, "Why did they try to kidnap mom? Why bring us to this world?"

Sinbad closed his eyes, "I don't know. Your mother and I have been fighting Al-Thamen since before we established Sindria but nothing of this sort has occurred before. However, it's obvious that they are not yet finished. Which is why I have a request to make for all of you."

The group stood silently watching Sinbad. Badr and Esra's eyes lit with a strength that did not belong to a child.

"We could use your power to fight against Al-Thamen. If you agree we'll help you attain the power you need to fight."

"What do you mean?" Alibaba asked though he was clearly voicing everyone's question judging from the expression on the rest of the group.

"I think you're aware but you and Badr's djinn equips as well as Aladdin and Esra's magic are incomplete. There's a powerful magician and skilled swordsmen here that I've considered asking to be your teachers."

Badr's eyes widened with a delighted gleam, "Really? You're getting someone to train us?"

Esra frowned, in the months they spent here Badr had taken to learning as much as he possibly could about their father, how he established this country, the djinns and the power he acquired from such a young age. It was only later after they were able to read the scripture and the stories that they realized the ones their mother had told them of the sailor was about Sinbad.

"Hold on, why do we also have to do this? I mean we're not even planning on staying in this world."

Badr elbowed his sister in her ribcage but that only earned him a more painful backlash.

"Yes, but from what I've seen you're both going to need to learn to control your powers. Esra, you especially need to be more careful when you use magic-it could prove fatal for you otherwise. Also, you have to remember that Al-Thamen was likely targeting your mother-and with her metal vessels back in the other world she's more vulnerable. She's also agreed that it would be best if you learned how to use your magic,"

Esra remembered having a long conversation with her mother about her powers that she had kept hidden, and there had been a great deal of apologizing on Sakura's part for not realizing this. However while Esra was contempt that her mother now knew, she was still very conscious about her abilities that she had only recently discovered was that of a magician. She had clearly fallen more on her father's side than she thought. Which was another bitter trail for her. It was difficult to focus in on one dramatic aspect of their circumstances with how they continued to be hit over and over again with something new happening. It was like stacking an uneven tower ready to fall; if you focused too much on one side then the other neglected side would topple everything down.

"Come on mini-monster, it would be nice if you didn't blow up a water system every time you get upset, or accidentally send someone's throwing stars to chase after them-and it would be nice if I didn't mention that last part to mom,"

Puffing out her cheeks, Esra turned her head sideways, "Well….."

"There's actually something else that I want to mention to you two," Sinbad said standing up, "Has your mother-

Before he was able to finish his sentence they were interrupted by a guard entering the office. He kneeled down calling for Sinbad and respectively spoke, "My king, a southern sea creature has been spotted off the eastern shore."

"Perfect. I will show you the power of those I would have you call teacher. You can then judge whether or not you would prefer their tutoring."

* * *

"So," Ino trailed slyly in a tone that made her friend's pause their activities, "I hear king Sinbad's returned."

"He has. Ja'far said he's summoned the children to discuss his meeting with Kou," Sakura appeared to remain indifferent, her arm extended slightly to shift the chess pieces on the board in front of her, Hinata on the opposite end of it watching carefully for any disruption in the rhythm Sakura had been playing with.

"Don't you want to know how the meeting went Sakura?" asked Hinata, moving her rook to take her opponent's pawn. There were many things that Ino and Hinata were able to distract themselves with during their stay in Sindria which had shown them the height of hospitality. On days the three friend's wanted to stay exclusively in each other's company they would retreat to the spectacular greenhouse on the palace grounds. Exotic plants and flowers decorated the room in a surrounding but well-coordinated manner, and there were even tables and chairs set for anyone who wanted to sit in the greenhouse.

"I don't need to know. It was for diplomatic purposes. I don't plan on getting involved in this country's affairs or any other's unless it becomes personal."

Ino slumped forward, resting her chin on top of her palm. "Weren't you engaged to one of the princes in that country king Sinbad went to?"

Sakura's eyebrow twitched and Hinata flinched as one of the chess pieces Sakura intended to move fell over.

"I told you, I wasn't engaged,"

Ino rolled her eyes, "Right, he was just courting you, and gave you a ring as a farewell gift,"

Sakura grunted, her hand reaching out for the chain around her neck.

In the time that passed in this world, Sakura had been able to confide some of her stories of this world to Ino and Hinata while ensuring Badr and Esra remained oblivious. Ino had been wearing her down for answers so Sakura compromised to giving her a few, albeit they were often vague. She explained her relationship with the Kou Empire where Kougyoku was from while discarding certain details that would completely destroy her dignity. She explained she met Sinbad during her travels (literally that was all she told them), and she explained the Looking Glass, how she found it accidentally and what she needed to do to return back home. Of course, there was still plenty she didn't tell them. The reason behind why she left and what she came to discover before she did.

"I told you the story already and the deal was you wouldn't bring it up again after I did,"

"It's not like we got it in writing," Ino muttered, taking a sip of tea. "Besides shouldn't you be talking to your ex-lover about getting us back home?"

Sakura didn't waver that time, "He just got back. There are probably a few things he needs to sort out with Alibaba and the others before he gets to that. Besides, he'll probably call on us today."

Ino and Hinata looked at each other, mirroring their worry. Had this been a few years ago, they might have been more patient and excited about being in another world, but the fact that they haven't seen their husbands or children in so long was something that would continue to weigh on them every day. Which was why they so readily welcomed the distractions available to them, even so, when it would end they would lie awake in bed. These circumstances were different from being away on missions, in which the chances of return were slim but being in another world made it feel even less probable of returning.

And that's when Sakura had to constantly assure them that they would find a way to get back.

" _If there was a way to bring us here, then there is a way to return home."_

"It's understandable that Ino and I want to go home, but Sakura now that Badr and Esra know who their father is…..

Ino finished for Hinata. As they treaded on territory that they had deliberately been avoiding for the last few weeks, "We're not saying that anything's going to happen, but now that the truth is out…..is it possible that you guys might have some proble-

"No," Sakura stated sharply, "Badr and Esra should understand the situation just as well as we do. All of this," she gestured around her. "Is temporary. This isn't something that can be negotiated, and therefore it's not a topic I'm going to discuss-ever. Okay?"

With the look in Sakura's eyes, even Ino knew that this was not something she should attempt to pry, "Okay,"

However, something was still very clear to both Hinata and Ino; they still had a lot more to discover about their friend and this world.

"Checkmate,"

* * *

During their stay in Sindria, Badr, Esra, Alibaba, Morgiana, and Aladdin have seen a lot of new and exotic things in Sindria; but what was most frightening was the creature that reared its head over the large rocks shielding the island and sliding down onto land without any signs of weakening mobility. It was dozens of meters long, with the body of an eel, with sharp strong jaws and fins. The friends watched with a group of civilians that were gathered as the creature raged through the forest area, occasionally spitting water from its jaws with enough pressure to destroy a house.

"What is that thing?" Alibaba asked,

"I don't know but it looks angry," said Badr

Esra looked around her, noticing the smiles on everyone's face, and then they started murmuring with excitement.

"It's going to start soon!"  
"It's been a while,"

"The hunts about to start!"

The group looked on to the large cliff in front of them where they saw the Sindria flags getting closer till they were near the edge, then Sinbad appeared closely accompanied by seven men and women whose features were difficult to make out from the distance they stood.

"Sure likes to make an entrance doesn't he?" Esra commented. 'Can't believe mom has a thing for that,'

"He's pretty amazing, isn't he?" Badr said in awe. Esra just shook her head without her brother noticing.

Sinbad held out his hand, calling on his two generals Yamraiha and Sharrkan to take care of the South Sea creature, knowing that they were being observed by the youngsters. He wanted them to see the strengths of their future teachers-should they choose to accept them.

Esra and Aladdin watched as a woman flew from the cliff into the air upon a pink staff with what looked like a pearl at the end. When the sea creature spat its high-pressure water at her, she didn't flinch, and not a single drop touched her as she was engulfed in a borg which became surrounded by the water before it shot back out. The stream of water wrapped around the creature, binding it and no matter how it struggled it was incapable of escaping.

"WOW" The magi and magician gasped.

"That would definitely come in handy with Badr," Esra said offhandedly.

And then another general jumped in-literally. Leaping onto the magician's staff before going into the air with his sword raised, everyone watched as he sliced through the thick body, taking off the sea creatures head with one swing. His sword glowed a light filled with magoi, a household vessel. And then just as swiftly he cut through the beast's belly removed the organs and the bones before slicing the remains into clean-cut pieces which landed neatly in a circle of cloth that the civilians had spread out in preparation. In the middle of that was the head and the remains.

If this was the power of a household vessel, it was a wonder of the possibilities of a metal vessel. And it made Alibaba and Badr more anxious to learn.

Now that they were on the ground, everyone was able to get a closer look at Sinbad's generals whom they have not seen before. The magician was a beautiful woman with long blue hair tied in the front, falling between her ample chest which was covered with two pink seashells. The second was a young man with tanned skin, white hair, and piercing green eyes.

"And there you have it," Sinbad said standing beside the magician, he gestured to Esra and Aladdin, "This woman will be your magic instructor,"

The women looked over the two children, smiling, "Hello, I'm Yamraiha. I'm not sure if someone like me will be able to assist you but feel free to ask me anything."

Esra coughed softly muttering under her breath when she saw Aladdin's perverted grin, "Might want to rephrase that last part,"

Although while Esra was momentarily distracted, Aladdin jumped head first into the women and began groping her. That quickly changed the magician's demeanor to terrifying as steam literally emerged from her body with enough heat to send Aladdin rolling back red. When Alibaba and Badr tried to touch him, they had to pull back because if it.

"It's just steam you know," Yamaraiha called.

Esra gave Aladdin a hard hit on the head, knocking him into the ground. "Disgusting pervert!"

Sinbad winced, 'She really is like her mother,'

"I am so sorry about him Yamraiha-san,"

"You must be Esra," Yamraiha smiled at the young girl, "I hope you'll find my teachings useful,""If I could use those water binds to tie up my brother and the steam to burn everyone as you did to Aladdin, I'd be more than willing to put myself in your hands,"

"If you turn out to be a blue magician, I could teach you to make all the liquids in your opponent's body boil,"

Esra's eyes seemed to light up, while Badr appeared to be growing nervous now. "Please don't teach her that,"

"Miss, you're not as nice as you look are you?" Aladdin asked plainly after recovering from the attack.

"Yeah Aladdin, just like you're not as innocent as you look," Esra retorted,

Sinbad gave a dry chuckle, 'Just like her mother,'

"Give it up," The other general responsible for gutting the sea monster stepped in, "This woman's a weakling but she likes to act tough. Even amongst magicians, she's one of the trickiest,"

Sinbad then gestured to his left, "This here is Sharrkan. He can teach you the way of the sword,"

Alibaba stood up to go to Sharrkan to introduce himself properly but Badr stayed near Aladdin. Sharrkan looked over them.

"So you both wanna learn the art of the sword?"

"Y-Yes," Alibaba answered,

"Yeah,"

Sharrkan grinned as he wrapped his arms around both boy's "Since you know how great the sword is, I can tell you have a bright future ahead. Um, Budr and Watchamababa?"

Alibaba gave an awkward smile, "Alibaba,"

"Badr," The boy grumbled, believing his name really wasn't that hard to pronounce or remember, he did have plenty who would ask where it came from since it sounded odd, but he never had an answer until now.

"Right,"

Yamaraiha looked plainly at the three, "You know if you keep talking to that guy you'll catch his stupidity,"

Esra waved, "Oh Badr doesn't have to worry about that, he's stupid on his own"

"What was that?"

"See what I mean?"

Badr glared back at his sister, sensing the insult in her tone. Sharrkan had turned to the other general and the two were having a glare-off until Sinbad intervened. While Alibaba and Aladdin were whispering about how the pair of two seemed to mirror one another.

"Could all of you save your bickering for another time? After all, tonight is Maharagan."

"What's that?" Badr and Esra asked together.

"I'll explain on our way back. There's actually something else I need to discuss with the two of you," Sinbad turned to his two generals, "I'm going to head back now, tell the other's to help with the sorting alright?"

"Yes King Sinbad," The two replied without question.

Sinbad walked ahead, leading Badr and Esra with his hands on their shoulders. Alibaba had a sense to rather keep distance for now as he understood the familiarity of this gesture from experiences with his own father. It was a simple one, commonly practice yet a rule similar to that of an unwritten one.

"Alright you two, I'm going to need your help with something," Sinbad said with discretion, glancing around. "And it's going to be dangerous."

The twins mirrored each other's expressions of curiosity and slight uncertainty, "What exactly would that be?" Esra asked

Sinbad took a breath, "Convincing your mother of something we discussed months ago."

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

"No way,"

Sinbad sighed, "Sakura, come on. It's a practical idea."

"No, no, no, absolutely not. What you're calling practical, I'm calling brash," Sakura scoffed, with her arms folding in a manner as defensive as her tone of voice. Turning away from Sinbad as she began pacing around her room, while Badr and Esra stood near Sinbad.

It had taken barely an hour for Sinbad to explain to the twins the nature of their situation since the incident in Balbadd. About how news was spreading about them all over and it wouldn't be too long before people would want to confirm the stories. Badr's revelation about him and Esra being Sinbad's children. Sinbad explained that it was vital he legitimizes the truth and evidently them before rumors got out of hand. He wanted to publicly claim them and he wanted it done as soon as possible. In the most literal sense.

However, Badr and Esra quickly realized what the issue would be.

Their mother.

"Sakura, we already discussed this." Sinbad attempted to reason, "Rumors are already circulating. They need to be put to rest. I can't brush this off like any other because they are true and have fact. Not to mention the witnesses Sakura. The alliance's diplomats have long reached their country and news has started to spread. We can't be expected to continue to keep them in the dark about all of this."

"It's too short notice," Sakura hissed back, "You can't just expect everything to fall in line within the span of barely a day!"

"It's not the whole official ceremony," Sinbad explained, cautious as if approaching a wild animal, "It's just me confirming Badr and Esra. Letting the world know I acknowledge that I have children. It would protect them, and you,"

"Or put them in worse danger,"

"No more than they are now," Sinbad pointed out.

Sakura paused, but her face still rigid, "I haven't even properly talked to Badr and Esra-

"I've already talked with Badr and Esra about this on our way here. And they agreed that-

Sakura's glare stopped him from uttering another word, with the eyes that could both enthrall and petrify him. "You spoke to them about this? Without thinking to include me in the conversation?"

"Uh…."

Badr and Esra quickly realized that this was their signal to intervene.

"Mom," Badr stepped forward, "I know that these problems are happening because of what I did back in Balbadd and I do want to make up for it. And Sinbad explained that publicly claiming us would help to do that."

Esra then chided, "I just said I'd go along with whatever mom wanted to do; because I already saw this coming,"

Badr elbowed his sister in the ribs, cramming his chin towards his mother, gesturing for Esra to continue. She sighed in reluctance, "And….thanks to Badr's stupid stunt maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea for Sinbad to tell everyone-whoever those people are,"

"Sakura; I barely managed to keep the Kou emperor from mentioning the incident in Balbadd in front of my generals because you didn't want anyone else to know of your presence here." Sinbad pressed. Though he knew he wasn't really taking the high ground by mentioning this.

"Oh; are you suggesting this is my fault?" Sakura dared.

"No!" Sinbad craned his head down, "Because for some reason that always use to come back to haunt me and I have a feeling ten years isn't going to change that principle. I'm just saying that we already agreed that I would officiate Badr and Esra, and I know that this is short notice but preparations can be made. You only have to think of this as the first half and in the near future we can have a better-organized ceremony for Badr and Esra if you want,"

"Sinbad by doing this you are going to be legitimizing Badr and Esra through recognition,"

"Exactly," Sinbad stepped over to Sakura, until they were barely half a meter apart, starring at one another. "This claim can protect them while they are here and finally put all the rumors to rest. It will give them title and station as well."

Grasping Sakura's smaller hands in his own, Sinbad spoke again, "I know that you're going to leave eventually; but do you think that you could at least allow me to acknowledge that I've had children with the women I love? The truths already out; isn't it better that we manage this ourselves before someone else does?"

Pursing her lips and wiping the frustrated bead of sweat from her brow, Sakura stood silently. It was more than just this sudden announcement from Sinbad; it was the idea she would have to finally meet with all of her friend's from the past again. The ones she had sacrificed in order to be with those from her world.

And knowing what she knew now, made things that much harder.

Sakura looked to her children and finding a reason to step away from Sinbad; removing her hands from his, "Are the two of you certain you want this? If not it won't happen,"

"Do I want to be legitimized as a prince?" Badr shrugged although his eyes shined, making Sakura's lips tug up before she brought them down again.

"And you Esra?"

Esra sighed, "Well; I don't really care about any of this but if it'll make things easier and since Badr did blab already…."

Sakura inhaled softly, clasping her hands together. "Then you better get ready for an earful from Ja'far,"

 **And that's it for now; I hope you enjoyed this chapter and that it sets and eager tone for the next. In the meantime...**

 **DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW.**


	22. Present: Maharaghan-night of memories

**Hey everyone guess who is back. It's been a few months since I updated so I've taken some time to working on this story and that's' why I haven't updated anything else and I've had a lot of to do as well.**

 **Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

The moment Sakura consented for Sinbad to publically recognize their children, she almost retracted. Sinbad called in Ja'far to begin preparation and as expected he did not react well when he was informed about it-another factor that almost had Sakura take back her consent. And due to the short notice and the dwindling time he would have to get things in order, Ja'far didn't have the chance to properly vent on his king's spur of the moment decisions.

"Just make sure to send messengers out in the next hour, that I'll be presenting Sindria with its princess and prince tonight at the palace. Then call in the other generals and give them to news,"

Sinbad left shortly after sending Ja'far out to handle formal preparations; which included writing and getting messengers out to announce that the king of Sindria was publically claiming his children (as well as notifying the entire island that he had children). That was going to cause enough of a stir in the kingdom but what Ja'far dreaded was the mandatory meeting with the other generals to inform then about this development. And it was clear that would come a price to his sanity.

Ja'far gathered them together after sending out the messengers and explained the situation as formal and as vague as possible. That while they were in Balbadd on their diplomatic quest, they happened to meet with twins involved with the Fog Troupe. One a dungeon capturer and the other a magician; it was easy when the two coincided with Aladdin, Morgiana, and Alibaba.

Since Sakura and her friends didn't come in until later; they were an easy factor to evade. Which had Ja'far telling the truth for the most part to how they met them but kept the critical detail for the end.

When it came to the part of discovering their lineage, Ja'far had to either bend the truth or cut around so that he didn't touch it. Admitting that the twins, who seemed to share a remarkable resemblance to Sinbad, actually turned out to be his children. And that it was confirmed when they met the mother (no names mentioned) and she admitted to Sinbad.

The word chaos seemed tenuous in describing the scene that broke out after Ja'far finished. The generals who could be so tranquil when taking to battle were jabbering, unable to form full sentences to their questions and were barely able to draw in breaths. It was a frenzy and Ja'far was unfortunately and dutifully right in the middle of it all.

" _WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN?'"_

" _What do you mean twins?!"_

" _WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US SOONER?"_

" _HOW COULD WE NOT HEAR ABOUT THIS?"_

Eventually, Ja'far realized a quick method to pacify the generals and gently shift the responsibility of revelation. First, he explained that Sinbad was the best primary source of answers to their questions and they would be granted his audience that night during the celebrations. And second, he turned focus towards Yamraiha and Sharrkan who had already met the twins that day but barely had more than an introduction. At that moment when all focus was diverted from him, Ja'far took the chance to escape.

Unfortunately, that was not going to be the most challenging part of his day. While Maharagan's festivities already made up several layers of the preparations required for the grandeur suited for the claiming of royal heirs, there were still other factors to sort due to the period in which everything was arranged. As well as the after-effects that would include messages to all of their allies who would not be able to attend the event. It had Ja'far past his neck in work.

"DAMN YOU SINBAD!"

* * *

With Sinbad and Ja'far off with their preparations for that night, Sakura was put in charge for readying Badr and Esra for their formal presentation. Dozens of fabrics set on stands in the forms of male and female clothing with more extravagance than any of them were used to. Jewels set in cases along the walls in shelves. Powders and creams set near a large mirror, along with paints for the lips and eyes. Scarfs, veils, masks and nearly every trinket one could imagine were all readily set for choosing. And bamboo folding screens for changing.

"Is this all necessary?" Esra asked, frowning as the shimmering gems blinding her with the help of the sunlight on the painted glass window. "I think I'd like to keep on what I'm wearing for this thing,"

Sakura chuckled; she already knew her daughter wasn't fond of dazzling and flashy like most girls. Her simplicity of choice in fashion was due to her mother; according to Ino. Whereas Badr was another matter on his own. But luckily for Sakura, she also knew her daughter was more compliant of her two children.

"Just bear with it for tonight, as we all do," Sakura kissed Esra head and then pushed her forward along with Badr, "Go pick out what you like and try them on. I'll come to help you both soon,"

"Okay,"

"Sakura," Hinata started, coming out of her awe much quickly than Ino, who was rushing over to the cloths, "Are you sure about all of this? Letting King Sinbad claim Badr and Esra?"

"I already discussed this in length with Sinbad months ago, so yes. And Maharagan is well suiting to the occasion," Sakura said, moving over towards the clothing set to fit her twins. Badr was already looking over some of the choices; as was Esra with clear hesitance. But they were at a distance where soft voices couldn't reach their ears. "It will give Badr and Esra title as royals and protect them. With Al-Thamen being associated closely to the Kou Empire. This should restrict them at least from taking any outright aggression because they would risk political tension."

Ino shrugged, "It makes sense and letting king Sinbad officiate Badr and Esra would mean he accepts that he is their father. It must mean quite a bit to them right?"

Sakura pulled her face, "Honestly, I don't' know but I suppose it's better than us ignoring the facts while we're here. And it will help save face for Badr and Esra; since it was announced out in the open that they share blood with Sinbad. I'd rather they weren't exposed to the scorn that comes with being in their situation,"

"And this event will help shield them from that. But what exactly does this mean for you? As a mother to the children of a king?" Hinata asked, an urgency in her tone.

Sakura paused, her fingers trailing along a silk fabric, she glanced over at her children before turning back to her friends. Lowering her tone, "That…..isnot a topic I've touched with Sinbad and that's how I want it to stay,"

Ino frowned, "Wait why?"

Hinata rubbed her eyes, "So I was right in what I'm assuming?"

Sakura straightened her gaze and nodded. "I don't want to mention this to Badr or Esra, but yes you're probably right in your thinking. But it's fine as long as Sinbad doesn't confirm it himself,"

"Oh, Sakura,"

"What are you two talking about?" Hinata looked at her blonde friend,

"It's just something I was thinking about. If King Sinbad were to claim Badr and Esra as his own, he isn't just securing the twins, but Sakura too,"

"So you're saying that King Sinbad won't only be claiming Badr and Esra but Sakura as well?" Ino asked skeptically, and Sakura nodded. "But you guys broke up before you even knew you were pregnant. And it's not like you're planning on getting back together with him….are you?"

"Ino!" Hinata gasped.

"What? I'm only asking," Ino raised her hands defensively. This hadn't been a subject they were able to stride on in their world, but here it was different.

"Definitely not." Sakura casually strolled over to a gemmed belt, as if inspecting but actually as an excuse to keep her eyes averted. "I had a lot of lessons in this world revolving around the practices of royals. And one of them includes the courting rituals, and to be more specific in what many will assume for my case-concubines, consorts or courtesans."

This was something Sakura had witnessed in the Kou palace. The current emperor had bedded his fair share of women-none whom he had married, and whom he easily grew tired of. But those who bared him, children, remained in the palace with their own estate. It was Kouha's particular case coming to mind.

"That's…..oh boy," Ino cringed, knowing the definition of the world but not entirely what it would entail.

"I don't really mind the assumption but the image is bound to be created," Sakura admitted. It was yet another reason why she was hesitant to allow Sinbad to officiate their children.

Ino swallowed hard, holding up her finger, "In other words once the king officiates your children…."

"I essentially become his property," Sakura tossed the belt in a pile of fabrics. Shaking her hands as if removing any hesitance, she smiled "Well, shall we get ready?"

* * *

As the sun to set, the festivities began to rise, the lights shone brighter, there was a tantalizing taste in the air from all the freshly cooked dishes and music could be heard from every corner of the island. Everyone was swept up in the wave of excitement, their demeanors all shifted towards strangers happily conversing like old friends. All sharing in the latest revelation for their country. There were stands, tables and tents set right in front of the palace walls which was more crowded than usual.

Alibaba and Aladdin spent most of their evening walking around, viewing all the stands, admiring the aesthetics and…women. Morgiana also joined them after getting dressed up for the occasion and distributing flowers; as was traditional. Though she surprised her friend's so much Alibaba had to comment on not being able to recognize her dressed so beautiful which put her in a bit of a sulk.

"Hey guys, let's go get some of that feast!" exclaimed Aladdin.

"I wonder where Badr and Esra are?" asked Alibaba, glancing around. He understood that they were supposed to be getting ready for their presentation later this evening but he hadn't seen them since their hunt earlier that morning.  
"They're probably still getting ready," said Morgiana. "I heard some people talking and they said King Sinbad was going to announce them soon,"

"That explains why everyone's gathering in front of the palace," Alibaba noted.

"Could you wait for us first?"

The small feet padding along the ground were inaudible against the sounds radiating, but the three friends still knew to turn. The Haruno siblings stood in front of their friend's like they were strangers. Dressed in fine robes without any specs of adventures as their regular clothing. Their forms shimmered whenever light hit their accessories. The dominating color being an arrangement of violet.

Esra's top only enclosed half of her torso, exposing her shoulders and stomach, it was piped with gold beads and a ruby stone in the center with golden tassels hanging from the bottom, her short white skirt was stitched with a patterned fabric dominantly purple with the same gold tassels hanging on the end, she also had a large veil tinged with violet and her feet were bare, only holding gold bracelets.

Badr had taken a darker shade of purple for his outfit but still also piped with gold. While he was advised to wear a tunic similar to Sinbad's style, he opted for sirwal pants that were the same shade of color as his top, both which were tucked in and under a black sash around his waist. He also wore a black jacket with patterned piping to cover his shoulders and wore a turban with a gem at the top.

"Wow, you both look amazing!" exclaimed Aladdin.

Badr grinned, "I know right? The only problem is both Esra and I chose to wear purple so people will think we're twinning!"

Morgiana blankly stared at the pair, "But you're always twinning,"

"We do not!" They contradicted by speaking together but shot one another glares in turn. "Stop copying me!-You stop!"

"Why are you guys here? Weren't you supposed to be at the palace?" Alibaba chided.

Apparently, Sinbad had been caught by some of his generals who had been chasing after him all day while he was in hiding from them and therefore sent Badr and Esra out ahead of time to enjoy the festivities on their own before going back to the palace within a certain time period. Sakura allowed this since she was yet to get ready herself. It was all for the sake of avoiding the dramatics before the right opportunity.

"We've been looking at you guys for the last hour to hang out; but got a little sidetracked," Esra looked at her brother, "Because someone kept trying to take a pick at the foods. Despite being told not to eat until after the announcement was given."

Seeing a potential quarrel ready to spring, Aladdin jumped forward, "Then let's stop wasting time and go have some fun!"

* * *

Aladdin's jovial demeanor was contagious and his friends followed his example, grinning as they walked together. Esra and Badr complimenting Morgiana's appearance and her returning. They joked, laughed, and spoke about things they would forget about the next day but would continue to retain their feelings. Badr and Esra told them about their experience getting ready for the festival, how Sakura chased them about and how her friend's chased their mother about. How they were being instructed b Ja'far in what would be happening for the announcement and because of the complications that would follow they had to work in a strict circuit.

They spoke all the while admiring the island's aesthetics delights of its festival. Snickering time and again when they heard people talk about seeing Sinbad's children who were to be revealed. Yet despite hearing about it, they continuously lost track of time as they lead each other around the island.

"A lot of things are probably going to change for you guys after tonight," Alibaba said, his voice etching on experience.

Esra pulled a sharp grin, "No way. We're only doing this because someone had to blab out to an entire throne room who he was,"

"You're not going to let that go are you?" Badr asked without hostility as he sensed the lack of within Esra. She wasn't entirely pleased with the current situation but she didn't resent it either. Her mind was still set that they would be returning home someday and that this was temporary. Her only concern was her brother's reaction to all of this. Each sibling retained a temperament and reckless edge, but the consistency differed.

"Not when the after-effects are still following us,"

"Speaking of which," Alibaba waited until they all looked over at him, "When did you say you were going to be announced?"

They stopped.

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

In the many harsh situations Sinbad had been placed, he couldn't think of any as taxing as his current. Maharagan was one of his favorite celebrations. It was a time when all the people on the island would come together, feast and rejoice their fortune as a country. There were no exclusions. He also enjoyed it because it was a time for him to unwind, he could eat, drink and…...so on.

Now it wasn't to say that he couldn't still enjoy two of the three, but he doubted that food and drink would be going down easy. He could foresee that and it's the reason he had this set out so thoroughly despite the short period that was left to arrange it.

Earlier his generals had finally managed to corner him and begin questioning about his children he failed to inform them about over the months passing Balbadd's incident. He tried to be discrete under interrogation because he didn't want to give information that would lead them back to Sakura.

It wasn't easy but he managed to placate them. He promised that everything would be explained tonight when he introduced them; although he had implied that the reason behind him keeping them a secret was on account of their mother's wishes.

That nearly opened a new floodgate of questions, but again Sinbad repeated that they would understand everything by tonight's end.

Sinbad felt his body relax by itself when he saw the twins running over to him with Alibaba, Morgiana, and Aladdin close by.

"Good you're here," Sinbad exhaled softly, "Everyone has been eagerly waiting to meet you,"

"Who?" the twins mimicked; growing anxious.

"Yeah, and where's mom? I thought she was going to take us up?" Esra chided.

Sinbad only signaled for them to follow, they walked up the stairs leading to the top of the outer wall of the palace. There were torches set with furniture of grandeur; the tables splendidly placed with food and drinks, and already occupants were enjoying these displays.

However as Sinbad reached the top, all went silent. Shuffling was heard, for a few moments, footsteps (rather eager) nearing and then everything went quiet again. Badr and Esra looked back at their friends who were only starring ahead and they peaked from behind Sinbad's form. There were eight individuals; four which they recognized already, Ja'far, Masrur, Yamraiha, and Sharrkan.

The four other's that they didn't recognize had some intimidating individuals among them, but none with cold eyes as they observed the two.

"Badr, Esra. Alibaba, Aladdin, Morgiana" Sinbad stepped to the side, allowing his generals to get a full view of the siblings and the friends. "These are my eight generals. You all already know Ja'far and Masrur, as well as Yamraiha and Sharrkan,"

They nodded.

One of the generals leaned forward a little, he was one of the tallest men they had ever seen but contrasting to his gigantic physique was the visible softness in his (ironically) sharp amber eyes.

"They really bare a striking resemblance, my king."

"This is Hinahoho, an Imuchakk warrior. Don't' mind his size, all his people are more or less that height,"

The twins nodded, Aladdin, Alibaba, and Morgiana watching further from the back greeted, before Sinbad introduced his next general. Who was even more intimidating than Masrur or Hinahoho. For this individual had the physique and form of a dragon, scaled green, long-faced with claws and a tail. They guessed his wings were hidden behind the cloak he wore.

"This is Drakon. He's a former soldier of the Parthevia Empire." Sinbad said, "He looks like a dragon but he was originally human. He's an exceptionally loyal man. He has a beautiful wife as well, Sahel,"

They looked to the women who was clinging to Drakon's clothing. She was beautiful as Sinbad described, with soft dark hair and a warm smile.

Aladdin then attempted to move forward to give the women his regular greeting but Esra grabbed him by his braid and yanked him back hard. "Don't even think about it!"

"You can't touch another man's wife!" hissed Alibaba. He especially didn't want Aladdin attempting to get friendly with a woman whose husband had the appearance of a dragon.

"Pisti of Artemyra," Then next person Sinbad pointed to, appeared to the youngest amongst the adults. She was also the shortest. With golden hair brighter than Ino's, wearing a pale pink top slit to her navel and short harem pants.

"Hello there," she greeted sweetly.

"Hello," they replied in sync, then shooting daggers with their eyes.

"Spartos of Sasan," There was someone who appeared just as reserved as the twins were in that moment. He had straight scarlet hair they couldn't help admire. He wore metal armor similar to Masrur but of a different design. He bowed his head in greeting to the children and they returned the gesture.

"It's a pleasure to meet you,"

"Us too,"

"Each of them is either members of the royal family of the alliance or people who sought refuge here in Sindria,"

Sinbad finished with his introduction and just when they were about to blow a breath of relief having gotten through introductions without incident, Sharrkan exclaimed loudly.

"Alright my king, we kept our end of the deal, now can we give them a proper welcome!?"

Badr and Esra looked at Sinbad with wide eyes, but he reassured them that all was well. "Just don't scare them off,"

"Huh?"

"Finally!"

The twins took some steps back as they were approached by Sinbad's generals who seemed eager to get a hold of them. Blocking most escape routes.

Sharrkan reached the two, throwing his arms around them, "Seriously, you didn't think to tell us you were our king's children when we were introduced before!?"

"Well, your king didn't exactly say anything either," Pointed Esra.

"It was heavily implied we weren't supposed to," Badr added.

Yamraiha plucked Esra out of his hold, "Well I for one am astonished and honored that our princess is a magician. I'm even more thrilled to be your teacher,"

Esra blushed at the title. "T-Thank you,"

"And I'm proud that our prince is a dungeon capturer and swordsmen," Sharrkan commented with snide, which was directed only towards the magician women.

"You two are so cute!" exclaimed Pisti, clapping. She tugged on Spartos clothing, "Don't you think so?"

"I cannot disagree,"

With a confident stride and bright smile, Badr took the blonde's hand, "That's flattering although I'd have to say you're even more adorable my lady,"

Pisti blushed, "Ah, that's sweet!"

Hinahoho let out a hearty laugh, "The resemblance is uncanny! Really it's remarkable after pestering you all these years to have children of your own you finally get some."

Sinbad gave a wry smile, scratching his cheek, "I wouldn't say…..

Coming up behind her brother Esra swiftly chopped to his head and knocked him hard into the ground, "Cut that out! You're embarrassing!"

Drakon commented, folding his arms, "Strong one isn't she?"

Sinbad, Ja'far and Masrur spoke simultaneously then, "You have no idea,"

Badr and Esra hardly seemed overwhelmed by the attention. They had experienced this from their mother's friends. The hair ruffling, hugging, affectionate compliments and so on. It did get old but at least it didn't surprise them.

Some murmurs were going about the generals and then attention turned to Ja'far and Masrur. Pisti then said, "And I still can't believe you two kept this from us!"

She was thoroughly backed up by the others. They had all established a relationship as generals that was a result of their personal duty to their king. Therefore it only seemed natural that they would share this kind of information. Unless of course-

"We were under orders," Ja'far said blandly, however, he seemed reluctant to make the statement instead of affirming it. Made one wonder if there was still more to this.

"Then again, so was he," Masrur said absently and Ja'far quickly covered his blunder with a cough. The time was nearing for the curtain to drop but they could not risk it any time sooner or everything would come to a standstill.

"What?"

"Let's just say that there were reasons," Sinbad told them as easily as he could. He glanced back at the staircase.

"Where is mom?" Badr chided, her voice a little muffled from Sharrkan pulling his cheeks.

"Ho-ooh," Hinahoho chuckled, "So their mother is here as well,"

Sinbad gave a tight-lipped smile in turn, "Well…..yes but you see-

"Who is she?" interrupted Yamraiha.

Pisti turned to Masrur and Ja'far, "I bet you two know don't you!?"

Ja'far nodded stiffly, "Yes but there's-

"Tell us!" the voices of several generals either echoed or supported but were met with stony silence.

"She'll be here momentarily," Sinbad assured them, "And she wants to be the one to formally introduce herself after the announcement; so can you all please contain yourselves until then?"

No was clearly what they wanted to respond with but the generals kept quiet so that they could continue their observations of the twins.

Badr leaned over to Sinbad, "Speaking of mom, where is she?"

Opening his mouth momentarily before closing, as if rethinking Sinbad shook his head, "I have no idea. She was supposed to already be here. I hope she didn't decide to miss this,"

As Badr was dragged back into the crowd, Sinbad quickly pulled Ja'far to the side, "Ja'far, did Sakura tell you when she would be coming or if she's having some sort of trouble?"

"I wouldn't know," his advisor answered honestly; then snidely remarked, "I was too busy dealing with preparations."

Sinbad grumbled under his breath, hiding his concern from his generals. While they and the twins were distracted in each other's company still. He went to Alibaba while the twins continued to be scrutinized and fussed over.

"Alibaba, there was something else I meant to talk to you, about my meeting with the Kou,"

Alibaba's shoulders grew stiff instantly and hoped it was something minuscule if capable of slipping through the cracks of Sinbad's mind.

"I took a request from the emperor to allow one of their princes to study abroad here in Sindria. It is an arrangement for the friendship of both countries. I understand this might be difficult, but for now, I want you to simply observe him."

Though doubt seeped in quick, Alibaba agreed to the terms; already feeling indebted to Sinbad for his efforts in saving Balbadd. He also understood that his crisis was not the only one either.

"Speaking of Kou," Ja'far spoke, turning to Sinbad. "Did you talk with princess Kougyoku? It seemed like she um…yearned for you."

Sinbad wasn't fazed, "Really?"

Badr scrunched his face, "You didn't notice? Even after you agreed so easily to go there on her request."

"What are you saying?" he asked. Sometimes there seemed to be just a drop too much wisdom in the child's mind.

"Ditz of the Seven Seas," muttered Masrur.

"We noticed and we're ten," said Esra, folding her arms. Morgiana nodded softly in agreement but chose to remain silent.

Opening and closing his mouth on a short continuum Sinbad said, "I was a little occupied remember?"

His other generals joined in the conversation.

"The king did it again didn't he?" said Drakon.

Ja'far swallowed hard, his pupils dilating. "No way...You-you didn't make a move on her did you?" he then grabbed Sinbad by the front of his clothing and shook him. "Even at a time like this with everything happening, you're still playing around!? If you are imprudent there could be a war between our countries! Not to mention that princess is close with-

"I know!" Sinbad exclaimed, finally catching on. "I went for diplomatic reasons. Like I would behave in such a manner that would bring disaster."

'In more ways than one,'

Ja'far let out a breath, "Good. At least your priorities are straight for now,"

"Speaking of which, I'll be back in a moment," Sinbad said as he noticed the three figures making their way over.

Ino and Hinata walking towards the stairs with a woman in the middle wearing a mask. He knew it was Sakura behind it. All three were dressed beautifully and with identical styles merely different colors, Ino and Hinata with a light blue and Sakura of course deep red. The near sheer fabric that flowed above their ankles, dangling with silver embroidery showed off their legs and teased as it thickened at their thighs. With the same fabric, the style of their robes exposed their navels and shoulders then dipping down towards their breasts were under it was all held together with silver plates in another intricate pattern. All three were barefoot.

Sinbad did his best to wipe off any signs of prolonged appreciation; knowing Sakura would be easily infuriated by him then went to meet the women halfway by the stairs.

"You're a little late,"

"We're sorry King Sinbad, but that fault is Sakura's," Ino pointed out.

The pinkette gave her friend a swift smack on the arm before looking back at Sindria's King and even though he couldn't see her face, he could feel the worry radiating. "Is everyone already there?"

Sinbad nodded, "They've all seemed to take a liking to them,"

Sakura smiled behind her mask. She and Sinbad had spoken last minute about how they were going to structure things. If she was revealed too early there was a chance that the announcement wouldn't be made but they agreed in allowing Badr and Esra to meet them beforehand but not with enough time to corner them into answering difficult questions.

"That's good to hear,"

"Although they're also especially curious about their mother. I've barely been able to avoid them today," Sinbad rubbed the back of his neck, waiting for a reaction but receiving none. Now he wished he could remove her mask but that was left to Sakura to decide whether or not she wanted to do that.

And she would but they decided to set better conditions than their current state.

They commenced with a steady pace up the stairs and to the wall where everyone waited. Sakura drew in a breath, keeping her composure as she took in the appearances and changes in all those individuals that were her dearest companions and friends in this world. She placed Hinahoho, whose features had hardened but his eyes remained soft as he spoke with Badr and seemed to be introducing them to his children.

She saw Spartos, who so closely resembled Msytras it made her feel an ache. And she nearly cried when she saw Pisti and Sharrkan grown.

"Are you alright?" Hinata asked softly,

She nodded, "It's just the excitement. I haven't seen most of them since they were children,"

Esra was being fussed around by Drakon, Pisti, and Sahel.

It was something she could only ever picture in her mind for almost ten years. But she didn't have the time to relish in it. As attention turned towards her and her friends.

"My king is this?" Drakon asked.

Sakura took the hand that was held out for her by Sinbad, "This is their mother,"

Sakura was greeted similarly as her children when they first appeared before the generals and held out her hand to stop them from nearing. She didn't respond with any more than a nod in acknowledgment as a greeting.

She likely came off as aloof and distant but that was the idea of wearing a mask so that no one would realize it was her. She didn't want to remove focus from what needed to be taken care of right now.

Sharrkan chided, "Doesn't she talk?"

That earned him a corrective smack with a staff behind the head from Yamraiha, "How rude! Please forgive him, he's a bit of a fool,"

"Hey!"

"Oh she can talk-one might say a little too much, and other's not enough," Ino chirped feeling Sakura glare at her from behind the mask.

Sinbad quickly introduced the women, as his comrades now fixed on them. "And this is Hinata Uzumaki and Ino Yamanaka. Her friend's. They were all in Balbadd when we met and have assisted us a lot in the battle,"

"Hello," Ino waved at the generals.

"Pleased to meet you," Hinata politely bowed.

Sharrkan took a hand of Ino and Hinata's, and surrendered a kiss to each, "It's a pleasure to meet such exotic beauties. If you'd like, I'd be more than happy to keep you company this evening,"

Before Ino or Hinata could comment, Ja'far entered, grasping Sharrkan by the chain around his neck and yanking hard. "Behave yourself! They are both married!"

"I-I apologize," Sharrkan gasped, trying to tug back on the chain, though Ja'far seemed tempted to keep holding him until his vision clouded.

"Uh, it's alright," Hinata said, not able to take offense under the circumstance. Ino even seemed to take some pride on account of how young and handsome the Heliohapt prince was.

Sakura raised an eyebrow. That had seemed out of character to the Sharrkan she knew before. He had a rather timid nature due to his upbringing, barely able to voice his desires to avoid inconveniencing others and it was only swordplay that would remove all restraints within him. Now it seemed he had finally been liberated. Although it was clear he had picked up some bad habits from another who was free of restraint.

'A lot has changed,'

"Alright now that everyone's here, I think it's time," Sinbad called before they could enter into proper conversation. There would be time after.

His generals lined up equally on each side leaving enough space between. Sakura, Badr, Esra, Ino, and Hinata stood on another side near Sinbad where they would remain out of view from the citizens below. Pending. There was the sound of gongs banging twice and then silence followed, the festivities halting but the eagerness was still strong in the air. Sinbad stepped into view of his people.

"Citizens of Sindria!" Sinbad's voice echoed through the silence and surpassed excitement, "I welcome and thank you fall for your presence here tonight! Today we celebrate Maharaghan with joy and gratitude but not like any other before. You may already be aware by now of the latest news that has been circling Sindria. I am here now to confirm that what you have heard is a great truth"

There was pause but no murmur, for it may have implied disrespect to their leader. The people listened eagerly as they always have whenever their king would address them. His words and tone of voice drew them into a radiance too magnificent to escape and by now, they all looked forward to that light. No matter the severity or insignificance of the topic.

"I, Sinbad king of Sindria, conqueror of the Seven Seas-"

Esra coughed softly, 'ego' and Badr jabbed her in the ribs.

"-am here tonight to proudly present to you-my beloved and loyal citizens, my son Badr and my daughter Esra. Prince and princess of Sindria!"

With their hearts hammering in their chest, as they were beckoned to the front by Sakura who gently prodded them forward to stand beside Sinbad, allowing everyone to see them, there was a rise of heavy calls, joyous, hands clapping together so loud that they were lost in sound.

"BLESSINGS TO KING SINBAD AND BLESSINGS TO THE FUTURE OF SINDRIA, PRINCE BADR-PRINCESS ESRA."

"Wow," Esra clasped her mother's hand, trying to keep herself upright after this wave of radiance.

The toast was like the trigger of a chain reaction, the skies became brighter, lighting up with different colors and then bursting at the high point to sprinkle down like snow. Music and laughter echoed and smiles plastered all around. They to this country couldn't help but admire it all.

Stepping away from the front, Sinbad went to Alibaba and his friends, "The five of you can go ahead now. Please enjoy tonight until your heart's content."

"Alright," Aladdin said, signaling to the twins to come over to them, "Let's go!"

Badr and Esra appeared unsure at first, but again Sakura pushed them forward rendering an unspoken message so they didn't resist.

"Wait, you're sending them away already!?" asked Sharrkan.

"Yes my king, we still have so much we want to-

"I know," Sinbad said, understanding with severity to his tone. He looked at all his generals and they knew that this was the moment not to question, but to listen.

That did not stop their thoughts from questioning why this was since it was Maharaghan and no one enjoyed it quite like their king. That's why they were taken aback and struck with anxiety at his next statement.

"I'm afraid festivities will have to be cut short for us. There is another urgent matter," Sinbad and Sakura looked at each other. Sakura then gestured for Ino and Hinata to go ahead without her. She had already discussed that she would prefer handling this on her own for now.

"Good luck,"

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

Sinbad, the generals, and the masked Sakura went into the great hall where they were waiting for the news their king had to share. Everyone was seated at a large marble table, with a set of glasses and an untouched jug of wine; in comfortable velvet chairs while Sinbad and Sakura stood at the head of it.

"You have something important to discuss with us my lord?" asked Hinahoho respectfully.

"And it couldn't wait until tomorrow?" Sharrkan sulked, but Yamraiha pinched his arm until he sat up straight again.

"Unfortunately no. In fact, I'd say it's been put off long enough,"

"Does this have to do with…..?" trailed Yamraiha, glancing at the masked women. They weren't told what to refer to her as.

"It does," Sinbad confirmed.

Several thoughts slipped into their minds of similar content and Hinahoho had to voice his, "This wouldn't happen to be a marriage announcement would it my king?"

"HUH!?" several of the generals became rowdy.

"Really your majesty? You're through with the single life!?"

Sinbad flustered slightly and even Masrur and Ja'far had to avert, looking at Sakura who stared back at him with no response and he couldn't see her face to see how she felt about the question. "No, it's nothing like that!"

His chest ached slightly at the truth but he continued, "This has to do with what happened in Balbadd and Al Thamen and," he paused, "Something else,"

Drakon crossed his arms, "It sounds like that something else is the priority of this meeting,"

"It is, but it will have to wait until the end." Taking a breath, Sinbad began, "You all know more or less the details of what happened in Balbadd regarding its diplomatic, political and domestic affairs we've had to participate in. But what you haven't been told in the report are the details of how all of this tied in with-

"Discovering you had children in Balbadd," Sharrkan finished for him.

Sinbad nodded, wringing his hands together "They're actually not from Balbadd. See what you have been told about the Fog Troupe and Balbadd's prince, The Kou Empire's involvement with Judar and Al-Thamen, even the battles that raged. Those are all true enough. However there are gaps we didn't fill before,"

"Such as my king?" asked Hinahoho.

"Such as that Badr, Esra and their mother, as well as her friend's had been forced into a dungeon and then separated upon exiting it,"

Yamraiha gasped, "What?!"

"But why would Al-Thamen do that?" asked Spartos, glancing at Sakura's stiff form. "This would imply that she-they were targets of the organization,"

"They were," Sinbad confirmed, "And I'll explain why in a moment. They were all split up after transferring out of the dungeon. I first met Esra while on my way to Balbadd, then Badr who was a member of the Fog Troupe we were trying to capture at the time. And when they brought up their mother and began showing similar characteristics we realized who they were and how they were linked to me. And after Judar attacked the base, their mother appeared and everything was revealed. We had to fight-as you know. But there was also an attempted kidnapping of her," Sinbad gestured again to Sakura.

Frowning, Yamraiha asked, "Is it possible that Al-Thamen was planning on using her and your children against you?"

Sinbad shook his head, "That's probably not it. That's a lot of effort at least it would be if it was concerning me but it's not just me personally that they are targeting. They have some goal we just haven't realized it yet,"

"This still doesn't make sense to me," admitted Sharrkan,

"It will, momentarily," Sinbad had a tranquil demeanor but there was so much severity and exasperation in his eyes. He didn't even keep himself from creating the crease in his forehead everyone teased made him look five years older, "It will make sense to you, why Al-Thamen is after her and the twins even though it's not a personal attack on me. Why I haven't told you about them until today and why I initially wasn't going to even legitimize and claim Badr and Esra publically,"

"You weren't?" Hinahoho's voice raised an octave too high.

"We discussed it," Sinbad glanced over at Sakura once more, "And it seemed better to keep the lineage of those two a secret from the rest of the world and avoid complications but everything was aired out in Balbadd's palace, in front of the Kou's representatives and even diplomats of the alliance that we realized we couldn't hide this. It wasn't meant for the protection of the twin's alone, but also because it's likely they won't be remaining here for long. It is not written that Badr and Esra are going to stay in Sindria long enough to succeed me,"

"Why?" Pisti asked.

Sakura's tongue felt dry, as the realized they were nearing the end of it. Sinbad knew this too and he took her hand, giving a gentle squeeze before letting go, knowing she was going to pull away. "Al-Thamen forcibly took them from their home and transferred them into a dungeon. Now they need to get back home, the issue here lies in the way in which they would need to return. Something I'm going to need Yamraiha to look into,"

"Me my king? For what?" the magician asked curiously now.

"Because this is going to involve magic. And this will probably be one of your greatest challenges. I explained to you all eleven years ago about learning that there were other worlds apart from ours where other beings lived like us and that there was a way to go to those worlds with magic. And while it was a liberty meant to be exclusive to magi's, normal people could travel to these worlds as well. Just like she had,"

"You're referring to…Sakura," Saying her name to Hinahoho was like pronouncing a foreign word with impossible impressions and yet it was smooth on his tongue.

They all knew the story. Sinbad had explained everything to them; the truth about Sakura Haruno. The girl who appeared out of nowhere and who was really from a place they couldn't reach and that she had been spending years struggling to obtain. The mirror. The shards. Her decision. Still vivid to this day, remaining neatly kept in a box they refused to open.

There was a thickening tension in the room after her name was mentioned and no one could blame. This was not an easy subject to touch, for years they had been holding onto their clips and thoughts of her in respect of their king. They did not want to relive that pained expression in his eyes after she was gone.

Aside from Yamraiha who had only heard tales of the interloper, and Spartos who had only been the same space with her once thus making them oblivious to the true image of this women. Other than she was the one whom everyone believed was meant to be their queen. To stand by their king's side.

One can only imagine what kind of women could capture the heart of a conqueror like their king. For a heart like that was meant to be forever yearning and never sated and to prove otherwise was no simple task.

For the other's it was personal and deep and the memory of her actually hurt. That's how much they respected, cared, admired and love this woman.

"Wait a minute, why are you bringing Sakura up with all of this?" Hinahoho asked cautiously. It was difficult to dismiss that awkward feeling of discussing the king's former lover in front of the mother of his children.

Drakon's eyes widened, "My king?"

Sinbad looked at Sakura and she placed her hand on the mask, "I wanted to show you all before explaining since it would have made more sense, but the odds of me getting the opportunity for that was slim if I had done it in that order. Then I realized that even if you couldn't understand what I was explaining, you would once the truth was revealed."

With a nod, Sinbad held his breath as the mask slid away, moving up from her mouth to her nose, revealing her eyes and the rest of her.

It was as if the room had suddenly turned to ice right before them, a cold biting into you and rendering you incapable of movement and thought itself that you couldn't even remember to breathe. And your eyes wouldn't close because they froze open. And there was one source of warmth, a fire in front of you but you couldn't reach it in fear that your solid form would break.

Finally, the room whispered, "Sakura…"

And the fire came closer and breathed on them, melting the ice.

* * *

Eyes were crawling all over them as Esra, Badr, Morgiana, Alibaba, and Aladdin attempted to rejoin the crowd. They went to one of the tables, filled their plates and enjoyed the dancing on the makeshift stage near the walls of the palace. Things had grown too quiet on top when Sinbad had his general's leave with Sakura.

Esra sipped her juice, glancing around, "It's like I can feel their eyes on us,"

"Me too," said Morgiana,

"You had to expect this," said Alibaba, swallowing his morsel before continuing. "At least you aren't going to be forced to stay cooped up in a palace for years,"

"Good point,"

With the shifting discomfort of being seen and unheard, as well as little effort made on anyone's part to elevate it. He thought to bring up what none of them had spoken about in months.

"What do you guys think….about Al-Thamen?"

The world around them became a little softer.

"What do you mean?" Badr asked back.

Alibaba clutched his arm, his fingers digging tighter into the fabric than necessary. "I wanted to hear your opinions about them. Honestly, I can't forgive them; not after what happened to Cassim. I don't want anyone else to end up like that. So I'm going to fight them; that's what I decided."

"Are you sure Alibaba?" Aladdin asked.

"Yes,"

"Then I'll fight Al-Thamen together with you as well!" he exclaimed a little too enthusiastic, "That's why I'm here,"

Badr looked into his cup, reflecting his mother's eyes. "Al-Thamen, that organization, we're obviously already linked to them. What happened in Balbadd. The fact that we're even in this world right now. It's all because of them,"

Esra frowned deeply, "They're after us for some reason. They want something from us,"

"Yeah and in that case, I don't really see why we shouldn't be fighting them alongside you," Badri grinned then turned to his sister, "Right?"

Esra coughed, resting her cheek on her shoulder, "Well, we don't know how long it'll actually take before we figure out how to get home and these guys are after us anyway so it wouldn't be a waste of time to take them out before they get the chance to get us,"

"Just hurry up and say you're on board,"

"I already did!" Esra stuck her tongue out at Badr, then sighed. "Oh, we better just not tell mom about this pact. She'll kill us before we get the chance to fight again,"

Badr laughed, "Duh!"

"Wow, you guys are more scared of your mom than anyone else huh?"

Alibaba covered his mouth when a laughed built up in his throat while he was chugging down his drink.

Morgiana sat silently, listening and watching the four bicker with smiles despite the topic. Somehow the commitment towards one another was what had broken the tension around regardless of the content they discussed. But she knew it was now her turn to voice her opinion on the matter.

"Alibaba, Aladdin, Badr, Esra,"

They all stopped and gave her their attention, feeling her pulse pick up as their eyes rested on her, she clutched the soft material of her dress. "Alibaba, Aladdin, I haven't forgotten my debts to both of you. But along with that, I also want to fight. Against Al-Thamen and those who are being oppressed. I want to fight alongside all of you."

Alibaba was the first to respond, "Really? But I thought you wanted to return to your home town? Actually, it's been on my mind for a while, how you decided to follow us all the way here instead,"

It was possible to get to the Dark Continent; at least to the Northern Part which had become occupied by the Reim Empire.

"I'm not able to forget about the battle we had in Balbadd," she said, her eyes holding a strong resolve. Proving this was not a pressured or spur of the moment choice. "I want to fight alongside everyone as well,"

When no one appeared to have the correct response, Aladdin chided joyfully. "If that's what you want to do Mor then, of course, you can!"

Aladdin's tone was easy to grab, and Badr added: "Yeah, you've been pretty reliable and if this is what you want then you should go ahead!"

Esra nodded, "Yeah, I'd like it if you'd stay. I don't want to be alone with all these guys. Besides you don't need permission to be with friend's."

"That's right, there's no need to hold yourself back!" Alibaba stated confidently.

Something bloomed inside of Morgiana, a warmth reaching throughout her with each heavy heartbeat. While she remained as attentive to the music as she had before, her feet began to melodiously tap with little consent and her eyes wandered to the stage.

Esra, Alibaba, Aladdin, and Badr were washed by a large wave of noise and sought to find the source. They saw Morgiana had slipped away from the table and onto the stage occupied by the musicians and dancers. The young Fanalis was wild in her movements yet graceful, her feet barely stopped and her arms flayed about, and there was a bright smile on her face. And it was contagious.

"Wow, what kind of dance is that?" Aladdin asked through the cheers.

"No idea, but she's…." Alibaba called out to the stage, "You're beautiful Morgiana!"

Esra chuckled lightly, "Only noticing now?"

Everyone was fixated on Morgiana until the song ended and a new began, it was more mellow compared to the last. She came down receiving praise from her friends.

"You were great!" Esra exclaimed

"Thank you," Morgiana looked down shyly.

"I think I want to dance too," Badr said, grabbing Aladdin and Esra's wrist, "Let's go!"

Hearing the snickers from her friend's, Esra grabbed Morgiana and Aladdin grabbed Alibaba so that she wouldn't be the only one entrapped. They started dancing together in a circle, spinning while they held hands and occasionally separated, jumping about and changing direction, going under each other's arm bridges until they eventually got a flow of the music and themselves to coordinate, laughing all the while. All eyes on them, forgotten.

Ino and Hinata watched the five from a close distance, "Well they're certainly enjoying themselves,"

Hinata nodded, glancing around. "It's the atmosphere. This place makes you feel so light."

Ino agreed, "Yeah, I would've liked to Sai to see this place,"

"Naruto too,"

Ino exhaled gently, but the tension became more imminent. "I can't help wondering how long this is going to last."

This wasn't their home, but it was another matter when looking at Badr and Esra. Not to mention Sakura. This scenario that no one could ever imagine.

"We'll be working on getting home soon," said Ino,

"Yes." Lavender eyes with the blankets aesthetic held the strongest feelings. She wanted to go back home, she wanted to see her home again, as well as her family. That yearning would never vanish completely.

'Naruto,'

* * *

Naruto entered through Konoha's gates, into the village as if loathing the warmth of the day, the comfort it brought because he received none from it. Not with his worries and fears shading him from all of the world's comforts. He didn't even glance the way of Ichiraku when he passed. Another fruitless search for his wife and his friends giving nothing but a dead end. But he wouldn't give up hope.

He knew that they had to be out there somewhere. He was just a little slow at getting a lead to follow, but eventually, he would get it. Because they had to be alive, he didn't want to accept anything less.

'I should see Boruto too,' He thought; remembering Sakura's council.

With what happened, Naruto had been almost constantly in and out of the village, so he had left Boruto with Hanabi and his grandfather who were beyond willing to look after the infant while Naruto continued his search for Hinata.

Sai was waiting for him in front of his house, just as worn out but something was gleaming in his eyes.

"Sai?"

"Kakashi's called on us,"

Every time they had been called into the Hokage's office since the alleged kidnapping, they had only received news that their searches and leads were dead ends but it never deterred them from moving as quickly as possible to get through that door in the hope that they would finally receive the information they wanted to hear.

"Is this the progress report?" asked Naruto when they finally reached the door,

"There weren't any details this time," Sai explained.

Pushing the door to the office; they found that everything was in place just as before. Kakashi at the des looking over, but it wasn't at them. There was someone else there. Dragged in almost all black, a long cloak, back facing them and yet they knew instantly.

Sai and Naruto breathed simultaneously, "Sasuke…"

"Now everyone's accounted for," said Kakashi.

The blank expression and almost motionless (yet not emotionless) onyx eyes were unmistakable. His hair was longer than before and had lost that specific edge on top that made him easiest to identify.

There was no greeting; formalities were never his forte anyway and those who knew him never considered it an insult.

"What happened?"


	23. Present: Dysfunctional welcome

**I finally managed to finish this chapter, and because I am writing exams soon it will be a while before I get back to this, but it shouldn't take too longer. I'll start as soon as I'm finished.**

 **Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

There was a comfortable warmth that morning when Sakura had gone to the memorial stone. The grass was soft, the breeze was quiet and even her journey up the hill was light, unlike most mornings where she had felt as if the ground was trying to swallow her and she was trudging upwards through quicksand. As she prayed, she felt relieved. As if she knew she had been truly forgiven. That she would soon be able to live this one of many guilt's that hung over her like heavy chains waiting to sink her into despair.

Maharaghan had happened many nights ago, and she had believed that this would be the memory of a fresh wound refusing to heal. But as she discovered it had longed closed and now was a clear line, almost nonexistent. Only fragmenting the thought of survival not suffering.

" _Sakura….."_

 _Shame. There was no mistaking the dryness on her tongue, rendering her unable to speak, nor the way her muscles clenched, keeping her bound to be chastised as she rightfully deserved and the way her stomach wanted to lurch and her heart wanted to escape her chest as if she wasn't deserving of one. This was nothing but pure shame that she could feel, as she wore a face expecting nothing but anger._

 _She thought she could smile in greeting, but her eyes cast down._

" _Is it…really you?" she heard Sharrkan ask, though he received no response from her._

 _Then she heard Drakon, "When-how?"_

 _"As I explained earlier; it was Al-Thamen. They brought her back here, but we don't know for what purpose."_

 _Drawing words from the mind to the tongue was challenging for both parties and it had been minutes before someone finally spoke._

" _So she's been here….this whole time?" Hinahoho asked._

 _Sinbad nodded, "I realize this is shocking, but whatever your feelings you must understand her position-_

 _He was cut off and not by words but an action taken by several of his generals, namely, Pisti, Sharrkan, Drakon and Hinahoho, all rushing past him._

 _Despite the warmth that enveloped Sakura, she immediately started trembling as if standing thinly veiled in a blizzard before realizing where she was. Her eyes burned from the salt in her tears that streamed down her cheeks. Hands folded around her back, clinging to her. She could hear the rukh fluttering around them._

 _There were no sentences or formal greetings that followed, not even a hello. Everyone merely uttered her name._

" _Sakura,"_

 _And that as enough to let her understand. She clutched onto the warm fabrics, sobbing and smiling all the while._

" _I'm back everyone!"_

There was, of course, a grand explanation to follow once everyone had recollected themselves. Sakura had taken especially long because she didn't understand how she could have been so easily forgiven for leaving. How no one had turned her away as she had to them. She grateful, for whatever force had kept her memory from decaying within their minds. The rest of the night was allowed to take in the shocking revelations and by morning, Sakura was much lighter.

Things were finally beginning to progress again and while she was still conflicted to voice this, she was grateful that fate had somehow lead her back to Sinbad. At the same time, she knew that nothing good would have come from her seeking him out and asking for help.

Now Esra, Badr, Aladdin, and Alibaba had begun their training under Sharrkan and Yamraiha; the young magician had also begun her project with discovering Al-Thamen's methods of drawing them back into this world. What they understood, for now, was that it had something to do with the mirror that Badr and Esra had brought home but that was currently all they knew because there were no fragments or remains to examine, like there was from the Looking Glass. Yamraiha had said she would do some more research on the existence of the magical item but it would likely take some time.

There was an alternative she had suggested but there was complications.

" _The best thing would probably be to ask a magi on the subject," Yamraiha said._

" _Yeah but we already established that we cannot" Sinbad countered, folding his arms, "Aladdin didn't even know he was a magi so I doubt he knows anything about this kind of magic tool. And the other is a wanderer. And Judar's obviously out of the question because of where his loyalties are."_

 _Sakura wondered though, if Judar was connected with Al-Thamen then he might actually know more about this mirror than anyone. But he didn't even know she was back in this world until they met in Balbadd so maybe not. It seemed like a worthwhile risk, but she would probably have to go to the Kou Empire to have an audience with Judar and Sinbad wouldn't allow that._

" _You know I learned that a Looking Glass is something a magi is supposed to possess," Sakura held her chin,_

" _You're wondering about why Aladdin doesn't have one," Yamraiha stated, "I'm not sure how they are manufactured, but perhaps I can find something on this and if Aladdin can master his magic….._

" _That might be an option," Sinbad finished "But it's a far off one,"_

 _Sakura sighed, "Guess we'll have to think of something else,"._

With their options still fairly limited at the time, they didn't have much choice other than to let Yamraiha try and figure out a way to get them back home. She said she would do some close research on the Looking Glass if she could find any and then perhaps with this she could help Aladdin to assist them in getting back. Yamraiha was actually eager to do this type of research because it involved them, interlopers. Basically an untouched trove of knowledge that she was eager to be the first to unravel.

Things were slowly picking up a pace; but with the way, things had been revolving around everyone; Sakura had subsequently been spending more time with Sinbad to deal with matters relating to them. For example when commissioning for Esra's wand.

Sinbad had come to her saying he gave Alibaba a new sword for his djinn to reside in and while on the subject, he had been given the old chains Morgiana wore in her days as a slave to be reconstructed for a household vessel and Sinbad realized that Esra was probably going to need a wand or staff for her magic. They had asked Esra what she would have liked but she didn't care what it looked like so long as she could perform magic with it.

That left Sinbad and Sakura to the detailing and design. Knowing her daughter's taste, Sakura was able to sketch something and Sinbad was able to get it made for her quickly.

 _"Should we have it design similarly to Aladdin's or smaller?" Sinbad asked, staring at the blank scroll in front of Sakura and himself. Both situated behind the desk, less than a side-step away from one another._

 _Sakura leaned on her chin, "Esra might be more preferential to something light and I'd rather she not have an item she could use to club her brother with,"_

 _With a somewhat disconcerted laugh, Sinbad said "Small it is. And what about the material?"_

" _I'd have to say metal, she's less likely to break it,"_

 _Sinbad snickered, "Yes, because that use to stop you,"_

 _Sinbad was nearly shoved to the side when Sakura jutted her elbow at him playfully; they chuckled. In these short moments, it was easy to forget where their positions were._

" _I was not that bad,"_

" _Oh!" Sinbad threw back his head, "I recall a time we were coming from a red light district in Reim, and some men attempted to rob us, all armed and you snapped quite a few swords-as well as bones."_

 _Sakura scoffed, "Yes and if I hadn't been there to drag you out of that entertainment establishment after you so shamelessly flaunted an unbelievable amount of gold at, then decided to get completely drunk and barely able to walk-you'd have been assaulted,"_

" _Well, the walking part wasn't entirely the drink's fault,"_

 _Again Sakura shoved him, a little harder and almost knocked him completely off balance._

" _You honestly haven't changed have you?"_

" _Is that a rhetorical question?" Sinbad raised his eyebrow, but then his expression softened. "I've learned to be a bit more cautious as of late. Before it was always you who would appear to drag me back safely,"_

 _Sakura shook her head, "It was like I had become your full-time nanny. Always running after you,"_

" _If I recall, I had been giving chase to you quite a few times as well," Sinbad responded fondly,_

 _They spoke for another hour about how to design this wand for their daughter, they were then easily caught in playful banter and barely noticed the moments shared but would recollect only after in the future._

 _Sakura had let down her barrier of indifference towards Sinbad and Sinbad himself was too infatuated with the moment to realize this All for the best supposedly, since he would have taken this as an opportunity had he not forgotten._

 _They looked at their final design, satisfied._

" _It's not very complex," Sinbad observed,_

" _It's simple yes," Sakura agreed, before flashing a bright smile that made Sinbad think he was looking at her from ten years ago. Her smile was actually de-aging. "But it's beautiful,"_

' _Just like you,'_

 _An amethyst gem carved into the blade of a kunai, linked with a black metal handles no longer than 20cm, lined with spiral carvings in gold at the top and bottom which had a round end._

 _That was presented to Esra in a small golden box with velvet casing inside, shaped to fit her wand. She took the box from Sinbad to further admire it and then remembered whom it was she owed thanks to._

 _"Wow, this is…..Thank you, Sinbad,"_

" _Of course. Your mother said that you'd probably prefer a simple design and thanks to that it was quickly made,"_

 _Esra frowned slightly, "Mom designed this?"_

" _Well-both she and I," Sinbad admitted rather bashful at the end. "So it's from the both of us,"_

 _Esra didn't give a response, taking the wand out of the box to get a better feel for it. Something-the only thing that was designed and made for her by both her parents._

 _While still conflicted, she felt compelled to say it again, "Thank you,"_

Despite the hollow ground they stood on to get back home, Sakura was finally beginning to linger on contempt. She was with her children once again, she no longer bared the weight of guilt that hung on her as before and more selfishly she wasn't alone. This world wasn't empty.

She had constant visits from the eight generals, most of her past friends who wanted to check in as if to make sure that she was really there and not some fantasy. Having lengthy conversations, hearing about how everyone had changed and grew. It was awkward at first, a natural struggle with the length of time that had passed but it was overcome quickly enough with the unchanging past and present feelings aiding.

To be able to laugh, smile and actually hold a conversation with those who were as good as dead to her, it was a true privilege in Sakura's mind. She had missed it all and she was grateful, while not the circumstances that brought her to this point, but still she could not complain about being able to interact with her friends again after so long and to whatever force that had allowed them to accept her so easily once more.

'Thank you,' Sakura whispered, parting her hands and turning to head downhill once again.

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

"Halharl Infigar!"

Flames shot into the air like a spring after the rukh gathered around Aladdin's staff; it cut through the clouds and went far into the sky. Yamraiha watched the output with impressed eyes. She wanted to test their current abilities after spending time only in the classroom.

Yamraiha had explained what is a magician and the different ranks, which went from the bottom tier of fortune tellers to magicians and then magi's. As well as what magic truly was, the transformation of magoi into different substances such as thunder or fire. While ordinary humans required magical tools like metal vessels or household vessels to achieve this transformation, it was magicians who didn't need those types of tools and could use the magoi within their own bodies, converse with the rukh and give special orders.

Aladdin breathed a soft sigh when he finished, "How was that?"

The answer was not what he expected, "Absolutely terrible. Your magoi output is certainly amazing. However, simply releasing a lot of heat is a bit too simple to be called magic. But before we get into that, let's see you have a go princess,"

"Okay," the violet haired said before stepping forward. Her anxiousness was clear as she held out her wand doubtful. She began to focus her magoi, hoping for something to happen. The rukh fluttered around her gently before becoming wild and she held up her arm, releasing a huge amount of magoi without any incantation but without changing it either.

'Such an incredible output as well,'

Yamraiha knew that magicians had more magoi within their bodies than other humans however there were still limits to what they've been able to produce and it was clear Esra had more potential if correctly taught. Then again, she was born to someone like Sinbad and what's more, her mother was an interloper so perhaps this wasn't a surprise.

"That's the best I can do," Esra said. "It's less complex than Aladdin's magic,"

"That's true," Yamraiha held her chin, "Princess is this how you've been using magic so far?"

The young girl rubbed her head, "Well to be honest, I don't know anything about magic and the only times I've ever really used it was when I was having some kind of extreme emotional turmoil and these things would happen; like flooding a field by destroying pipelines or causing shuriken to chase after people."

"You need to figure out what you want magic to do before you can create new magic. You must issue a command before firing. Try again and think carefully about the kind of transformation you want; whatever first comes to mind and feels natural."

With a heavy breath, Esra closed her eyes to concentrate, she listened closely and after almost a minute, she finally felt herself drawing on her magoi and molding it with effort before projecting it outward to the sky. This time a beam of pure light shot into the sky, it wasn't just magoi, but light.

Yamraiha was in awe, 'They're both so amazing!'

"Wow Esra, you're great!" exclaimed Aladdin.

Yamraiha nodded, "Okay, so it's obvious that control and complexity are what we need to work on. Magic does a lot more than what you've demonstrated. For example,"

In an instantly Yamraiha's form vanished; the two immediately started looking around for their teacher. When Aladdin felt a tug on his hand.

"I'm right here," Yamraiha reappeared from what seemed to be thin air. "This is done by giving the rukh three commands. Gather water, change the water into vapor and manipulate the refraction of the light."

"Commands?"

"I remember that guy from before mentioned something like that," said Esra.

"Magic is made of formulas. What commands you give the rukh will determine what actions will occur. This is the invisible truth that governs our world. To understand these formulas. To put them together and therefore to give rise to the different phenomenon is magic. With training, you'll be able to give the rukh dozens or perhaps even hundreds of commands and perform great magic,"

Now Yamraiha was certain she had received a good crop of students, by the shine in their eyes and pure eagerness that she had as a child.

* * *

Badr winced when his katana clashed once more with Sharrkan's sword, he overpowered his teacher in terms of physical strength but as far as swordplay went, he was outmatched. What's more, this was only one form he had managed to bring Vapula out in. Every time he tried using his crescent blade, he would only be able to project a beam of light once before the sword became too heavy for him to hold and he had to revert it. It was a tiring process.

Projecting beams of light from the double katana, however, were much easier.

"You've got to work on your output," Sharrkan said as they clashed. It was if they were doing an uncoordinated dance where any and all steps could be taken as long as you didn't lose balance because the one who lost their balance would be the one who loses.

"You're picking up quickly though, guess you've been taught a thing or two,"

"Yeah, from my mom," Badr grunted, swinging out one arm while defending from Sharrkan's sword with his other blade. Sharrkan saw this and jumped back.

"Oh yeah, guess who taught her?" Sharrkan gloated, sticking his thumb at himself.

"Seriously-

"You're open!" Sharrkan struck and Badr was sent skidding across the ground, his djinn weapon becoming undone. "And yes,"

"You okay Badr?" Alibaba called, the younger boy gave a wave of reassurance.

"Never let your guard down mid-battle,"

"I know," he mumbled standing up and dusting himself off. "Alibaba's already made his debut with Amon's sword; though his method of swordplay isn't fit for the blade he wields. As for you, your problem is that you've got no sense of managing your power and you're unable to handle your sword after striking once,"

Badr pouted. Alibaba had gone first in sparring against Sharrkan and he managed to summon Amon's weapon from the new sword that Sinbad had given him to replace his broken one but he wasn't able to properly fight with it. Sharrkan had dominated completely in that fight without even using his household vessel and Amon's blade was one that could cut through practically anything.

"So how do we fix those problems?"

Sharrkan looked like he was ready to say something when they heard the bell ring, signaling the time of day. More specifically, the end of their lessons.

"Well, that's it for today! Let's go drink something!" Sharrkan sheathed his sword.  
"EH!? Come on!" Badr rushed after their teacher, "You didn't answer my question!"

"Sorry young prince, I follow the doctrine of not working outside my time!" Sharrkan exclaimed, throwing an arm around both boys.

"Now let's go drink!"

"I'm a minor!"

* * *

Days passed with what had become a routine for the interlopers and guests of Sindria. Every day, Badr, Esra, Alibaba, Aladdin, and Morgiana would have training with Yamraiha, Sharrkan, and Masrur. And Sakura, Ino and Hinata were often trying to sort through scrolls Yamraiha would leave out that might aid them in their search for the magic to return them to their world.

This often left them in the library and while they were there, some of the generals would stop in for conversation between duties. Sakura watched her friend's bonding over the common denominator that was now her and her children. They mostly discussed her past and history in this world and theirs. Some would turn Sakura bright red.

Presently the three women were engaging in one of Sinbad's many manuscripts that told the tale of his adventures.

"We're supposed to be researching," Sakura scolded the two women who had become infatuated with one story in particular.

"Sinbad didn't know that there were eyes that could reflect such sharpness and beauty of real emeralds, nor did he believe there was a body with enough strength to overpower the colossal men of Imuchakk. And yet was so fragile that he easily pushed her into the snow. It was only after their eyes met that they realized they were not meant to be enemies-

"What are you reading?!" Sakura blushed, taking the scroll from Ino. She scanned through it and grimaced, "I used to tell him to leave me out of these stories. His creative flare was a bit too much for me, and often stems from the truth."

"Is it?" asked Hinata. Now she was even teasing her.

Sakura shrunk into herself, "Most of it, but that doesn't matter now. We need to keep looking through these scrolls."

"We've been going through these for three hours, let us have this!" Ino protested.

"Are you ladies reading the king's manuscripts again?" Hinahoho asked stepping into the library, along with Pisti and Spartos.

"We were," Ino pointed, "When she and the king met in Imuchakk, for the first time,"

"That is your homeland isn't it, Hinahoho-san?"

He nodded, "Yes, I was there when those two met on the battle field. King Sinbad tackled her into the snow, they looked at each other and he instantly tried to woo her,"

Sakura folded her arms, "He just called me cute,"

Hinahoho shook his head, "Well it wasn't at first sight perhaps but he's always been pining after you. You just never noticed because you always emphasized your love for someone else,"

Hinata and Ino were quiet; already knowing who this person they were referring to.

"But this story sounds so romantic," said Ino,

"Yeah I especially enjoyed the part when Ja'far almost assassinated us in our sleep and then Sinbad tricked everyone into giving him the djinn's power in the dungeon," Sakura sarcastically waved.

Hinata laughed wearily, so not romantic as…..tragic?

"What about how they met in Sasan?!" Pisti turned to Spartos, "That's a funny story huh?"

Spartos neither accepted nor declined the question, "Well, King Sinbad did give chase to her in the city,"

Ino and Hinata tried to hold back their giggles. Sakura groaned, slamming her head on the table, "Spare me,"

Hinahoho laughed, "Oh yes I remember! It was after Sakura had left to journey on her own. I can't help laughing every time I recall that expression on her face when she saw us, or when Ja'far had to restrain her with his cords,"

"Yeah well here's how you all looked!" Sakura straightened her form, opened her eyes as wide as possible, dropping her jaw and pointed with a mockingly shaking finger, "S-Sa-Sa-Sa-Sa-Ku-Ra?"

The library rang with laughter, at the recollection of those memories.

"You guys can laugh at me all you want, but I've got a lot of interesting stories on all of you as well," Sakura reminded them with a sly smile.

All attention was diverted to changing her mind from revealing any of their personal and embarrassing experiences, but Sakura didn't get the chance because a messenger arrived calling for all the generals to present themselves at the harbor for the arrival of the Kou Empire delegation.

* * *

Winds delivering the fragrance of the seas and gentle samples cooling its visitors against the beating sun was the experience at the harbor. A large ship, neatly crafted and painted with green rimming, the Kou Empire's flag proudly above and its soldiers gathered below, silent and still with their hands clasped as their prince stepped off to be the first to greet Sindria's King and his generals. And of course with the generals came their students.

Coarse navy-blue hair, a right blue eye full of light and a left one dull and joined with scarring scattered across the left side of the face and with the mouth pulled into a thin line as well as the stature and the aura of severity created by all this; Sakura thought she was looking at a softer version of Hakuyuu, but she knew better, because there were fragments of Gyokuen in his face. This boy and his sister always seemed to lean more towards their mother's appearance.

'Hakuryuu,'

"You know him as well Sakura?" whispered Hinata and the pinkette nodded.

Knots were beginning to tie within her stomach and she wished she hadn't come down to the port. She clutched the rings around her neck.

Alibaba and his friends were also observing the young prince as he walked over to Sinbad, all with different thoughts. Aladdin thought about how similar he looked to his sister Hakuei. Alibaba was full of distorted feelings, and it was overwhelming. The Kou were the ones responsible for seizing his country and there was a burning in his arm and a voice that only saying one thing in his mind.

'Hate him,'

Badr and Esra seemed to sense the tension because they both glanced at Alibaba and asked if he was okay and he reassured them. Alibaba already knew that he had to endure this despite wanting to take revenge for what happened in Balbadd.

Hakuryuu clashed his hands, greeting Sinbad. "I am the Fourth prince of the Kou Empire, Hakuryuu Ren."

"I've heard of you from his majesty the emperor. I welcome you."

"Even without my step-father's commands, I wished to meet you."

"That's an honor. I will patiently hear what you have to say to me," Behind Hakuryuu's shoulder Sinbad saw another figure who had made their way down to them. "By the way, didn't I already meet the person behind you?"

Ja'far's calm smile dropped when he saw who was standing behind him, "P-Princess Kougyoku!"

"Was she also supposed to be coming here?" Ino asked softly.

"No, I don't remember hearing anything about that," Sakura said. "And something seems….off,"

"Eh, the princess who had an interest in King Sinbad that you were talking about right?" Pisti chided. "She chased him here."

"Isn't this kinda awkward?" Sharrkan asked, darting between Sakura and Kougyoku.

"What are you talking about?" A perfect pink eyebrow raised,

Sharrkan just

Kougyoku steeped up to Sinbad, smiling with her hands tucked under her long flouncy sleeves. "Thank you for last time. I was really happy to have met you again."

"I am as well," Sinbad replied.

Ja'far let out a breath of relief with how casual this encounter had ended up, "Thank god. Everything seems okay,"

"It's been a while! There wasn't even a single occasion to meet you while I was in the Empire. I'm really glad to have met you again,"

"There wasn't even a single occasion….to meet me huh?" Kougyoku's trembling was beginning to become obvious, her bottom lip curling in aggravation.

Before anyone could blink thrice, a piece of Sinbad's hair was scattered in the wind and the swiftness of a blade cutting the air was heard. Eyes were all that moved to see Kougyoku holding a sword.

"Damn you Sinbad!" the princess seethed through clenched teeth, "If you had apologized I was going to try to swallow my tears and deal with it for the sake of my country! But I can't let you get away with this!"

Drawing her metal vessel's weapon, Kougyoku pointed the much sharper and far more lethal sword in Sinbad's direction. "Duel me, Sinbad! You deserve nothing but death for disgracing a maiden's body with such barbarianism!"

All onlookers were either holding their tongues or gaping like fish out of water unable to breathe. Ino and Hinata both covered their mouths in disbelief, wondering if they had heard right and understood what the princess was implying.

"Oh this can't be good," Sakura said nervously.

"I knew it!" Ja'far exclaimed, glaring at Sinbad, "What did you do!?"

"N-nothing!" Sinbad felt the beads of sweat forming around his forehead.

Ja'far then turned his attention to Kougyoku, "What's the meaning of this princess!?"

Kougyoku hiccupped, dropping her sword. Every time she blinked the corner of her eyes continued to fill with more tears ready to pour.

Rushing forward, Sakura stood in front of Kougyoku putting her arms on her shoulders, "Whoa, whoa! Kougyoku what's the matter?"

The young princess broke down sobbing, hugging the pinkette as her only source of comfort. "S-Sakura! Bwaaaaa!"

Sakura allowed the other pinkette to cry on her, rubbing her back cautiously. "There, there….."

Biting her bottom lip, Ino leaned toward Hinata. "Well, this is quite the welcoming,"

"Uh-huh…."

Kakoubun then stepped into the open circle created, "Excuse me, it would be cruel to force the victim to say anymore. Please allow me to explain in her place,"

Sakura's sweatdropped at the term victim. Things must be severe.

"It was the last night of King Sinbad's visit to the Kou Empire. A lavish farewell banquet was held. The next morning, Princess Kougyoku awoke in bed to see…..

When Kakaoubun finished his statement, everyone just piecing the puzzle together to get a clearer picture were all sharing their expressions towards Sindria's King and the Kou princess. Most were too stunned to even conjure any words. Badr and Esra included.

Sakura grimaced, still trying to calm down Kougyoku who was attempting to swallow her cries. "Oh god…."

Sinbad choked, becoming pale. "W-W-Wait a minute I didn't-

"If you insist that there was nothing, please do explain how that happened!"

Sakura wondered how did this happen? Sinbad was certainly a bad drunk, but he was never 'that' bad and she knew from personal experience. He ironically preferred to be sober at least just enough to remember the next day and he knew what this would cost him should he even consider 'defiling' a princess from the Kou Empire. That was a call to war or worse….marriage. ON the other hand, she couldn't say that Sinbad has never lost himself to alcohol and done something to a woman….still she was solidly certain that he wouldn't have done something of this magnitude.

'So what did happen?'

Finally, Kougyoku was able to gather herself enough to send a disgusted glare at her so-called assailant. "You've disgraced the body of a princess of the Kou Empire. I'll duel you to defend my honor!" Drawing out a sword, tears continued to stream down the girl's face, "If you refuse, I'll kill you and then myself!"

"Okay, okay!" Sakura gently took the sword from Kougyoku's hold, "There's no need for that, I'm sure we can resolve this,"

"Right. Don't be so hasty princess!" Kakoubun said.

Meanwhile, Sinbad was trying hard to remember anything from that night, but he couldn't' recall a thing.

Ja'far then said, "The obscenities of the king of Sindria…" Sinbad froze as Ja'far took a step closer, "And the suicide of a princess all lead to war with the Kou Empire!"

Ino swallowed heavily, "Really a war?"

"Oh…." Esra covered her face, red with embarrassment.

Badr frowned, "That can't be what happened right?"

"Well…."

Sinbad did not know how he was going to escape this situation, especially in front of all these witnesses.

Sharrkan then intervened everyone's thoughts that were already drawing on disturbing images and theories. "Wait that night the king wasn't drunk at all!"

Spartos nodded, "Yeah,"

With his ray of hope visible in the mist, Sinbad sought to grab it, "That's right! I only had a few sips out of courtesy. After that, I went straight to my bedroom."

Sharrkan nodded, "Yes he did. We made sure he went there alone and he was asleep."

Sakura seemed in thought, "Well it does take quite a bit to get you drunk enough to forget anything."

"That's right. I didn't do anything with the princess." Sinbad said confidently.

Kougyoku sniffled, "Then why was I in your room?"

Sinbad paused, being as sincere as he could. "I'm sorry princess but I have no memories of that."

"Then why were you naked? Did you strip off your clothes while you were sleeping!?"

Sinbad shamelessly nodded, "I do that quite often,"

Sakura wearily muttered, "I can attest to that. But Kougyoku what happened on your end?"

The princess looked down at her hands, "That night during the banquet I hid in a corner of the room. But I couldn't muster the courage to speak to you. The banquet ended and after that, I was attacked by something, lost consciousness and woke to find myself in your room!"

"In other words!" Ka Koubun interjected, "Kind Sinbad did, in fact, become too drunk, grabbed the princess and-

"Okay no need to paint a vivid image, there are children here!" Sakura exclaimed "But if that's what happened there is a way that we can check,"

"Huh?!" Kakobun coughed, "What do you mean?"

"Ino," Sakura called to her friend and the Yamanaka stopped in her tracks.

"Sakura…..are you telling me to check his mind?"

Sakura nodded, looking at the distressed Kougyoku "That's right. Ino has the ability to enter into other people's minds. She can search Sinbad's memories of that night and see if anything did happen and if he's just pretending not to remember or rather even if he doesn't, she can still see what happened,"

Running up to Sakura, Ino protested. What was her friend thinking? "Sakura what if something did happen and I see it!"

"Then you're just going to have to tell us," Sakura then pointed to Sinbad, "Then once we find out, appropriate action can be taken,"

Ino didn't understand what the angle was here. If something did happen and she told them then that would likely lead to more problems for Sinbad so what could Sakura have been thinking….unless.

'Does she want me to lie?'

"Okay….."

Ka Koubun began to sweat, and then pointed out, "What if she decides to lie!? How do we even validate your response!? You could make anything up to protect the king!"

"Well, how else do we expect to find the truth?" Sakura added calm-disturbingly so. "Or would you rather skip that part and just say what it would take to remedy the situation?"

"Yes! Because it's obvious what happened!" Ka Koubun straightened himself, "King Sinbad, in order to take responsibility for your actions, you must marry the princess!"

"M-Marry!?" Sinbad's jaw dropped.

"Yes! If you are husband and wife then the princesses honor will remain intact!"

Ino swallowed, "I kinda see the point but….."

"Though you have children together, the two of you are unwed correct?" Ka Koubun pointed.

Sakura nodded, "That's true, and if he did commit such an act this would be the best course of action to make up for that."

Sinbad gasped, "S-Sakura!"

Hinata whispered to Ino, "She's actually agreeing,"

"Uh-huh…." Ino nodded unsurely.

"There's no other way," Ja'far said solemnly.

"It would eradicate any chance of war," said Spartos

Yamraiha whispered, "A political marriage with the Kou?"

"Yeah but….." Hinahoho trailed, everyone looking at Sakura who was still comforting Kougyoku.

'This is awkward,'

Sinbad looked back at his generals in disbelief, "Have faith in your king! Do you honestly believe I would get drunk and commit such a crime while on a diplomatic mission?"

With deadpan expressions, all of his generals affirmed their belief and reasoning in why their king would commit this act. His drunken habits were not the best but they didn't want to voice every case in exactly why this belief was so solid in their minds. Not in front of the king's children.

"Perhaps it's time for the prince and princess to go back," Drakon suggested.

The twins blinked, "Huh?"

"Hey, I told you I didn't do anything!" Sinbad cried out, "Sakura!"

When Sinbad turned to Sakura for help, she just said. She forced down her smile. "You do realize I am your worst point of reference for this topic right? Besides as of now your current choices are between marriage and war."

"Lose-lose either way," Badr muttered softly.

"How can you agree to terms like these?" Sinbad was nearly in complete disarray by now.

"Well, if you made the bed…." Sakura pointed, "And seemingly already laid in it,"

Hinata's sweatdropped, "The ex-lover telling her former to get married to a woman whom he has been accused of…." She couldn't even finish the sentence.

Ino nodded "Never thought I'd see a situation like this,"

His generals stepped forward with serious expressions, Ja'far spoke then, "King Sinbad, your decision."

Sinbad was in complete disarray and realizing that no one was going to come to his defense, including the woman whom he believed would know him better, he shouted. "I can't take this anymore! Yamraiha use your powers to prove my innocence!"

Yamraiha was worried, "Are you sure my king? I can only show you exactly what happened."

"That's fine!"

"Then please gather around. Princess you too,"

Kougyoku looked at Sakura and the pinkette nodded back, standing up and guiding her to the magician. Yamraiha held up one hand, water gathering around it. "I'll show you what really happened." The water that Yamraiha had then shot out into splashes of puddles on the ground that began to shift and form shape, one looked like Sinbad, the other like Kougyoku. The name of the spell was Sharrar Raqesa.

"What is that?" asked Hinata

"We'll have their rukh show us what really happened," said Yamraiha. More water shifted, to show the palace outline. Sinbad's water form moved to a bed. "This magic shows only the truth!"

Sinbad's form was shown to be sleeping as he had claimed, everyone then looked at the princesses' water figure who was walking. Then she stopped and seemed to slump and turned horizontally.

"She's floating!" exclaimed Aladdin.

"Oh this is kinda like watching a video," said Hinata to Ino.

"Yeah, the kind you wear a mask and glasses to rent and draw up your blinds for when you get home,"

"Someone is carrying her," Yamraiha said. Everyone watched eagerly as the princess was moved all the way to Sinbad's room and placed next to him.

"So Sinbad didn't do anything after all," Badr observed.

"Yeah, they're just sleeping," said Aladdin.

It was only really at that moment that everyone remembered there were still children around.

"He might've had someone carry her for him!" exclaimed Sharrkan.

"Ino, Hinata." Sakura gestured to the twins and the women quickly put their hands over the sibling's eyes to shield them from whatever happened next. Ja'far did the same for Aladdin and Masrur did so for Morgiana. While everyone else was leaning in, justifying that they had a duty to act as witnesses.

Some such as Spartos was disoriented about having to take such action. Then those like Hinata and Pisti were watching with red faces but, only one with a smile and the other with wracked nerves and those like Ino, Hinahoho, and Drakon were a bit too eager to find out what happened.

Kougyoku tightened her grip on Sakura, worried about what might be witnessed.

"I'm going to speed it up,"

Everyone watched closer but in a few seconds the darkness around the magic vanished and it became morning within it.

"They only slept," said Sakura.

"So nothing happened," Badr said, as the hands around his eyes were removed.

"That's kinda a disappointing climax; it's like when you get fooled by the cover-ow!" Ino yelped when Hinata pressed her fingers together, pulling on the skin around her hips.

There was a simultaneous breath of relief. Sinbad turned back to glare at his comrades, "I told you so! I didn't do anything! Do you have any idea how betrayed I felt!?"

Everyone just seemed to turn away apologetically. Kougyoku's eyes filled with tears again, her heart racing in embarrassment as she realized the magnitude of her accusations to what had proven to be false. What's more, it was all against the man she had begun falling for.

"Princess!" Sinbad called, "As you can see nothing happened. Both your honor and your body are uninjured."

"Y-yes…"

Hinata then spoke up, "But who was the one that brought the princess to King Sinbad?"

"Yeah," Ino nodded, putting her hands on her hips. "This just verifies that there was some kind of set up, for an arranged marriage."

"Yeah you're right," Sharrkan said

Ka Koubun was one of the few that didn't seem satisfied and immediately leaped in. "You mustn't be fooled, princess! Such suspicious magic does not serve as proof! Be a man and acknowledge your sins, King Sinbad!"

Sakura narrowed her eyes, 'Rather persistent….'

"Stop it Ka Koubun," Kougyoku interjected, still teary-eyed, "I thought it was kind of strange, honestly. Neither my hair nor my clothes were in any kind of disarray. But I couldn't understand. I was scared and caused a lot of trouble…"

Kougyoku started crying again, but she swallowed and turned back around bowing her head in shame and apology. "I'm sorry King Sinbad!"

Some of the princess's guards were becoming teary-eyed themselves, watching Kougyoku reduce herself to such a state. It was heartbreaking.

"I'm very sorry Sakura!" Kougyoku said, almost falling to her knees at that time. Sakura just hugged her again.

"It's okay. That wasn't as far-fetched an accusation….." Sakura stroked the girl's head.

"This situation is just so weird," Esra rubbed the back of her head. "So who did put the princess in bed with Sinbad?"

No one from Sindria knew the answer.

"You mustn't be taken in by them princess!" Ka Koubun insisted, "You must have King Sinbad take responsibility and marry you!"

Sakura narrowed her eyes again at the man who was Kougyoku's attendant, "If I may…..Where were you on the night all this happened to the princess?"

Ka Koubun took a step back, "Huh? What are you implying!?"

"I'm not implying anything, it's a simple question. You are one of her attendants after all, and someone should've been aware of the princess's presence or absence. Such as if she wasn't in her room. Sinbad's generals ensured that he had gone to bed alone,"

"W-What kind of-

Ka Koubun was cut off as two of Kougyoku's other attendants, who had become too sympathetic for their princess bowed, "We are so sorry."

"The whole thing was orchestrated by Ka Koubun!"

"And we assisted him,"

The man in question glared at them, "You idiots!"

Kougyoku's tears instantly dried and she looked at her beloved advisor, with confusion. Ja'far just pointed at him, calling for the guards. "Capture the traitor who tried to deceive king Sinbad!"

Sindria soldiers acted upon the orders and surged forward to Ka Koubun who had drawn his sword. "I will not be captured here!"

But before anyone from Sindria could take any action, Hakuryuu who had been silently observing through all of the dramatics, knocked the sword from Ka Koubun's hands. "Stop this farce. King Sinbad, this issue was the fault of my country's misconduct." Kneeling, with his hands pressed together and arms angled straight, Hakuryuu apologized, "Clairvoyance magic also exists in my country. I believe that water magic showed the truth. Am I wrong Ka Koubun?"

The man seemed hesitant but in defeat admitted, "No,"

"As the representative of the Kou Empire, I offer my sincerest apologies for the misconduct of my fellow travelers. As the purpose of this trip is unrelated to this incident, I beg of you to permit us to stay,"

Sinbad answered easily, "Of course permitted,"

"Thank you very much,"

Things ended easily after that, Ka Koubun was spared from the wrath of Sindria after he broke down kneeling on the floor and apologizing to the princess in the final scene. Ino was barely able to contain herself the rest of the day, saying it was one of the most entertaining things she had ever witnessed.

* * *

"This wasn't completely unexpected," Sakura snickered around the table with her kunoichi friends. "Sinbad's had tendencies."

"But Sakura, you really made him worry," Hinata said trying to hold in her giggles. "You only assisted in the last moments," She truly did feel sorry for King Sinbad, but at the same time, this was the type of memory you could recollect and just laugh. Sakura even admitted to them that she was certain of Sinbad's innocence but merely chose not to defend that belief.

"I'm serious! He's always done things like this and back when we were traveling, I'd often get caught up in it all!" Sakura stopped, took another bite of the meat on her plate, swallowed and then continued. "I can't even count how many times I've had to get him out of situations like that! His bad habits include, alcoholism and being a philanderer,"

Ino laughed mischievously, "A man who embodies the qualities you detest and yet you fell in love with him and had his children,"

Sakura shook her head, beaming with humor. "I did…."

More thoughtful, Hinata glanced out towards the window without curtains, starring out at the island bathed in the warmth of the sunset. Even the man who ruled over this land had his flaws and they were not small ones. But like many of her friends Hinata, always wondered about the kind of man who had managed to capture the attention of Sakura's heart which was always trailing after one. And somehow she had assumed that they would mirror each other; the only difference being that one was more attainable.

It was odd. How Sakura shared the same love for two men so different from each other.

"Oh, that young prince….is he?" Ino trailed,

"Yes," Sakura confirmed, "He is Gyokuen's youngest child."

"Do you think he would know something?"

Sakura didn't answer because she didn't know. There was a burn scar right across Hakuryuu's face, the assumption of the cause was almost too clear but still unconfirmed. She wanted to talk to him about this but she didn't know if it was too reckless to assume he would know anything or if he did that he would tell her anything.

Barely a moment passed when Sinbad knocked and entered the room with a casual stance. He came with a purpose and one look at Sakura told them what it was.

"Can I have a word?"

* * *

Torches were already being lit throughout the castle when the pair walked along the hallways together. Sakura simply followed alongside the king, without truly wondering why he wanted to speak with her. There were only a handful of topics that were of any interest to them presently and she wasn't particularly eager to converse on them, but this wasn't a matter of what she felt. It was a priority that towered above all else.

Sinbad however, decided to start with what they would probably forget in the near future, "You really enjoyed what happened a little too much, don't you think?"

"Eh?"

"That escapade with the Kou princess." Sinbad crossed his arms, waiting for Sakura's response.

"Well," she cleared her throat, attempting to keep her lips from curving up. "Of course I didn't enjoy it, that would be inappropriate considering the nature of that misconduct,"

"Then why were you snickering all the way back to the palace with your friends?" Sinbad asked rather snarky.

She responded too quickly to be the truth, "Inside joke,"

However mention of hours ago, just brought back the images of Sinbad's hopeless expression and his general's accusations that she couldn't stop her laughter, "Okay, I admit that was very entertaining to watch,"

Sinbad pouted, "With the way, you were so freely throwing your agreement for those suggestions of redemption, it's clear you had less faith in me than my generals! And you know me better!"

'Do I?' she wondered.

"Oh please," Sakura clicked her tongue, "If I believed you did what you were accused of; Kougyoku wouldn't have gotten the chance to duel you because you'd already be dead,"

"Oh well, that makes it better,"

Sakura gently tapped his arm, "Glad I could help,"

Sinbad had to smile but it quickly fell as they went onto a more severe topic.

"I had an interesting conversation with prince Hakuryuu," Sinbad kept starring ahead and Sakura did the same, knowing he would continue. "It was nothing in particular at first. He truly seemed interested in this country and studying here. I thought for a moment that he was nothing more than an ambassador for our friendly relations with the Kou,"

Sakura finally glanced his way, she didn't' enjoy the way Sinbad so carefully trotting around her with words. He knew her better.

"Just tell me straight what's going on," She hissed. The amusement in his eyes then told her that she had given the reaction he wanted. Perhaps this was a small sense of payback for what happened earlier today.

Taking her by the arm, Sinbad leads the pinkette to an empty balcony. Overlooking the island, and they just watched it all go by.

"How did you feel? Seeing the young prince after all this time?"

"What?" She frowned.

"He's the brother of the former first prince Hakuyuu. Someone you had been close with and his mother is a part of the organization that took you from your homeworld. So I would like to know where exactly your feelings stand on the matter with Al-Thaman and the Kou Empire, considering your relationship with the monarchy,"

Sakura tasted nothing but led inside her mouth, and she didn't know why she should. "What is this really about?"

"You have to answer me first,"

"I don't know," Sakura turned to the distance before her, "Nostalgia, I suppose. But he seems so different from that little boy I used to play within the gardens; so carefree and always smiling. But time doesn't wait,"

"It doesn't," Sinbad agreed, "And it seems that time has taken a lot from this young man," Sakura turned fully to Sinbad, letting him know she was giving all her attention.

"He wants to destroy the Kou Empire,"

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

Hakuryuu shifted in his seat at the domed shaped window, overlooking one of the palace gardens stretching far out to the other side of the building. He gazed without seeing much though, his thoughts overclouding his vision of reality and ruining his sense, replacing the sweet Sindria air with that of black smoke and blood, the taste on his tongue bitter and the secure warmth that remained even at night was missed.

King Sinbad had given him an extensive tour of the palace, bearing no visible ill-will for what happened when they arrived. While he was showing him the royal facilities for foreign guests; the different towers for separate purposes, Hakuryuu had never strayed from his goal and when the opportunity presented itself he took it.

He had confronted Sinbad on his true feelings of the Kou Empire after speaking about wanting to keep a mutual friendship with the empire even though it was a lie and he knew the reasons. He believed Sinbad saw the Kou as a country of aggression, going against the foundation of the Seven Seas alliance not to invade or be invaded. And that's why he believed he could get Sinbad on his side to go against the Kou.

" _Will you help me, to fight the Kou Empire?"_

 _Sinbad folded his arms, his expression instantly falling to severe, "And if I refuse? To easily reveal such an outrageous scheme to the king of another country….I cannot help but say that you are naïve. What will you do if I present what we just discussed to the Empire?_

 _"I don't think you will do that…but I am already prepared for that. I'm prepared to risk my life to obtain your trust. For that, I must openly reveal everything to you,"_

 _That might have been the end of the discussion, but Hakuryuu decided to go further. "I know that the organization has been targeting your children and Sakura Haruno,"_

* * *

That didn't take the conversation as far as he had hoped, but he had spoken the truth. He wanted to have an audience with Sakura as well with regards to this situation but Sinbad told him while he was at liberty to converse with whomever he chose; he wasn't going to get an answer from Sinbad until he observed and learned more about the outside world.

He wanted to object but there was nothing he could do to further sway him. However reluctant, he would abide, if that meant achieving his goal.

"That sure is a scary face,"

Hakuryuu nearly fell out of the chair when he heard the sudden voice behind him and he slipped further when he caught the source of the voice. Sakura, leaning her back against the door as if she had slipped through it without turning the knob.

"Sakura-ne-!" He caught himself, standing up, straightening his posture and bowing his head, "Forgive me, Lady Sakura,"

He heard footsteps nearing and instead of returning the greeting, he felt a weight on his head, again and again.

"What's with that greeting?" She pouted, "It's just me so you can call me like you always have or if you've outgrown Sakura nee-san you can just call me Sakura,"

Hakuryuu turned a little red, stumbling, "I-I couldn't possibly! That would be disrespectful and I'm-

She flicked his forehead, "You're Hakuryuu and I'm…?"

She was leaned forward, her head slanted to the side, hands on her hips. For a moment, he saw her as she was before, that seventeen-year-old girl in her worn-out clothing, and choppy short hair.

"Sakura,"

She seemed satisfied as she backed away, "Geez, that's not so hard. You don't have to look like that,"

"My apologies," he bowed his head again and heard her sigh.

"You sure you're that same little boy who used to follow me around the palace and beg me to play and tell him stories,"

Again his face turned red, but he contained himself. "That was a long time ago after all,"

"Mmm," She agreed, "It really was,"

Hakuryuu allowed the silence to settle for what he considered to be decent before asking, "What brings you here?"

"I wanted to have a word with you," While she didn't immediately describe the topic she wanted to discuss, he already knew it was severe and could also guess.

"Please," Hakuryuu lead them to the chairs by the window, setting them to face each other and waited for Sakura to take hers before he took his.

He was grateful that she didn't waste time, "Hakuryuu. Do you….know about Al-Thamen?"

"Yes," He didn't hesitate, "And I know that they've been targeting you and your children,"

"How do you know this?" She held herself straight, determined not to look like a wilting flower that needed delicate tending to revive. She wanted answers, but for whatever reason, those in this world still harbored feelings towards her and treated her with care.

"Because my brother's Hakuyuu and Hakuren knew," He saw her fingers twitch, "The organization has been targeting you for years, but I don't know the reason,"

"Hakuren and Hakuyuu…." It was only when she reached her hand up to her chest, did her see the rings around her neck, one being Hakuyuu's. It was supposed to be worn by the first prince of Kou, it was their father's before it was Hakuyuu's. And it was thought that the ring was lost in the fire.

"That ring…." Sakura's hand froze.

"Your brother gave it to me when we…" She swallowed thickly but it was like she had sand in her mouth. "On the last night, I saw him,"

Hakuryuu narrowed his eyes, "So you've already heard about what happened?"

She nodded however hesitant to answer, "I'm so sorry Hakuryuu. I doubt you want to hear this from me, but I am. I cared about them,"

"I know, they cared a lot about you as well. My brother was in love with you and wanted to marry you... He put off taking a wife until he was named emperor."

Sakura did her best not to wince. She and Hakuryuu may not have seen eye-to-eye but she did admire him and believed he would've been a great leader, she didn't want to mention any 'would've' to Hakuryuu. It was a little too late for her to even be giving her condolences.

"Sakura," Hakuryuu began again, disallowing her to collect her thoughts, "Do you know what really happened?"

She instinctively shook her head, despite hearing that no one actually knew the cause but after what Sinbad said the boy aimed to do, she didn't know.

Hakuryuu took her hand, as his first intimate action towards her since their reunion. "The fire….it was an attempted murder on my father, Hakuren, Hakuyuu and myself. It was meant to look like we had burned to death, but when the fire started we were all attacked. They were members of the organization. And all of this….all of this," Hakuryuu squeezed her hand tight, as though he was clutching onto his sanity that the mere memory was slowly cutting through.

"Hakuryuu," Sakura covered his hand with her other, and he seemed to come back loosening his grip, but she made sure to hold onto him.

"I'm sorry," He exhaled, a cold sweat on his brow. He looked up at her and she was stunned by the hatred in his eyes that struck like a hot iron, "All of this was planned by Gyokuen Ren. The witch of Al-Thamen; my mother,"

Sakura returned to her room in a dreamlike state, she wasn't even aware of when she arrived but it seemed like she was there in an instant. She curled up by the window but didn't admire the view. She didn't want to. Nor did she want the comforts of a bed. She wanted to feel her backache from sitting upright through till morning, she wanted her joints to creak to remind her that she wasn't numb and that this was just all in her head.

She could still see Hakuryuu's cold eyes; they were void of light and with his left side scared, the one eye was particularly dull and suiting to the expression, but even so, she didn't want to see it. There was seldom a time she had seen eyes like that, and it's for that reason she couldn't forget it. Someone who truly hated and someone who truly loved. The eyes of an avenger.

" _Hakuryuu," Sakura hesitated for a great period, but she knew she had to say the words now or she would regret not finding the answer, "G-Gyokuen was the one…..?"_

" _She was," Hakuryuu hissed, "She murdered my father and brother's and she wanted to kill me as well. And my brother, in his last moments he told me to live and finish what he and Hakuren could not and strike down our enemy…my mother. And he told me to warn you that they were after you. He then took his blade to stab himself and drenched my body in his blood so that I could escape through the flames, and that was the last,"_

 _She felt like stones were knocking around inside her stomach, "Sakura even in his last moments, my brother had you in his thoughts. He and Hakuren knew of the organization's pursuit of you and they wanted to guard you against it. One day, I'm going to avenge my brother's and father and when that day comes, I hope that you will join me. I know the stories of your strength and you might be one of the few I can rely on._

 _And I hoped to persuade Sinbad to help me as well, but he has requested me first. I intend to follow through with it if it will earn his trust,"_

 _Sakura frowned, "Request?"_

Hakuryuu was instructed to stay close to Alibaba and try to learn from him. Though he didn't understand the purpose but Sakura thought she had seen it. Both Hakuryuu and Alibaba had grudges to share against the Kou who has taken from them. But she was worried about the two being in such proximity to each other when they didn't know each other's pains.

She wanted to know what Sinbad's intentions were but she did not have the strength at this moment to move and would wait for the next day.

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter and had a few laughs on the way through. Don't forget to review!**


End file.
